Loosely defined by law, stalking is ". . . a pattern of behavior that causes a reasonable person to feel fear." When I talk about my house, my car, or my dog I am signaling ownership, connection, and pride. That’s not what a stalker deserves. By referring to him as “ my stalker,” I unintentionally take ownership in his actions. I want nothing to do with that. I reject any notion that ties me to his sadistic choices. Todd had countless opportunities to recognize the depravity of his actions...

Sometimes red flags don’t wave. They whisper. A slammed door. A terse comment. A flash of anger that feels like something more. All followed by a charming apology. Many have experienced these things, yet few might recognize how these seemingly normal elements of unwanted behavior can escalate. Red flags can appear small and deceptively manageable by design. What I didn’t know at the time is how each apology accepted was a form of conditioning. After Todd, a man I’d briefly dated, contacted my...

"The process broke me so completely that I suffered a stroke." Writing can be a release, a way to transform pain into something meaningful. But that wasn’t the case for me. When I sat down to write about my experience as the target of a sadistic stalker, it wasn’t catharsis I found. It was torture. Sentence by sentence, page by page I relived the worst moments of my life. The process broke me so completely that I suffered a stroke. Why am I doing this? I asked myself and it didn’t take long...