<blockquote><p>&#8220;We accept the love we <strong>think</strong> we deserve.&#8221; &#8211;<em>Stephen Chbosky</em></p></blockquote>
<p><strong>Part 2: </strong>If you&#8217;ve read the previous post, then you are familiar with my friend &#8216;Casey&#8217;. If you haven&#8217;t read the post, I suggest that you do so that this article won&#8217;t be confusing to you.</p>
<p>Casey and I have another friend named &#8216;Ashley&#8217;. We met Ashley through a class that all freshman are required to take at our university. Ashley was quiet and very withdrawn from the class at times. I blamed it on, for lack of a better word, her shyness. However, as time passed and we became closer, I realized that she wasn&#8217;t shy by a long shot. She was always smiling, laughing, and joking with anyone she knew and even those that she didn&#8217;t know if they were around long enough for her to feel comfortable.</p>
<p>While Casey updated me about what she&#8217;d been going through with &#8216;Terry&#8217;, she caught me up on Ashley&#8217;s situation also. Casey informed me that Ashley had actually been dating someone who was abusing her; both mentally and physically. She defended him in the beginning, which is normal in any situation like this. It wasn&#8217;t until she told Casey about his abuse that she realized that it wasn&#8217;t right. So the next time that they had an argument in which he raised his hand to her, she called the police. They came and took him away and she hasn&#8217;t been in contact with him since.</p>
<p>After Casey gave me the run down, an imaginary light bulb lit over the top of my head. All of the signs were there! Ashley, in a matter of months went from a joy filled person I once knew and reverted back to the removed person I met freshman year. Her laughter was virtually nonexistent and she wouldn&#8217;t hang out with us as much as she used to. Now that I think about it, whenever I asked her about hanging out on weekends, her response was often &#8220;I have something to do with my boyfriend&#8221;. I never paid much thought to any of these occurrences&#8230; But I wish I would have.</p>
<p>First and foremost, it is <strong>never satisfactory</strong> to be abused by anyone; Nor is it any better for <strong>you</strong> to abuse someone. Abuse is not love, and if anyone tells you differently, they are <strong>WRONG.</strong> If you are being abused by someone whether it be mental, physical, or emotional, leave them. If you know anyone that is being abused, help them, and even if they don&#8217;t seem receptive of your help, <strong>stay there and don&#8217;t give up. </strong></p>
<p><strong> National Domestic Violence Website: http://www.thehotline.org/is-this-abuse/ </strong></p>
<p>Part 3 (Final) coming Thursday</p>
<p>From me to you, love.
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