Thirteen Years Ago I Needed 'Click To Empower'

This morning I put out four bags of clothes onto my front step for donation pick up. It was then that I realized that I didn't have any purses in the bags. Nothing in that capacity to even donate either. I felt a bit guilty too. As if I am not doing my part to help with a cause I hold near my heart despite not always wanting to and wish I didn't have to.

What the heck am I talking about?

It's October people. It's not just awareness month for the pink ribbons but also for Domestic Violence. From now until October 3 many Allstate insurance agencies will be working with Dress for Success to collect purses and professional bags to help women get back on their feet and back to the work force prepared and in style. So be generous! Find that Allstate agency near you and give yourself an excuse to do some Fall cleaning. Seventy-four percent of us know someone affected by domestic violence yet it largely goes either unnoticed or swept under the rug.

We don't want to see it. We don't want to make waves. What if we are wrong and lose a friend by stirring up the pot? Both parties involved are too good at covering it all up too. That was my story. Even my closest friends and my family had no idea what was going on when they were not around. I myself, did not even see it. I had been been so conditioned. So worn down and trained in a way that I did not acknowledge the abuse as anything more than what I "needed" or "deserved". For five full years. It took a college counselor to finally break the spell and destroy the story I had built -where it was all my fault and I had to wear my hair and clothes they way he wanted. Or else. Who thought about teens and domestic violence at that time anyway? Tori Spelling hadn't made any Sunday night movies about it yet and Fred Savage was still remembered for his role as Kevin, in the Wonder Years.

Today, because people cared enough to press the point and keep after me. Because I was somehow strong enough to get away at the right time, I am fine. Sure, I am a safety nut and I still sometimes have myself on high alert (H calls our house Fort Knox) but you can't come away from a war not scarred and that is just what domestic violence is like. It's a war on your body and your soul. You can get it back. You just have to find help and that is the hardest part of all.

You can give help too.

Visit 'Click to Empower' to find out more and enter to win a contest for a purse that you could just as well turn around and donate to someone who desperately needs to get back on their feet.