I was tempted to kill my husband, but instead I left

TO THE EDITOR:

I would like first to express my sympathy to Matthew Winkler’s parents and children. Now in the matter of Mrs. Winkler conveying her story of spousal abuse on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show.’ Mrs. Winkler happens not to be the only woman who has ever suffered abuse at the hands of her spouse or partner.

In my opinion, Mrs. Winkler is a disgrace to all women who have suffered abuse. Now, while I may be inclined to believe Mrs. Winkler was abused, she had options other than to take another human being’s life.

While I myself have suffered abuse before at the hands of my children’s father, I would not have taken his life. True, at one point, I very much felt that I thought I had to. But, as I weighed the options, how would I have explained to my two children that I took their father’s life?

So I instead chose to leave him. No, I did not have any money, nor did I know where I was going. All I knew was I was leaving him.

The final straw came when he decided that he wanted an argument that I was not about to give him. So needless to say, I ended up at the emergency room that night. Did I want to kill him then? Yes! Did I kill him? No.

But I do know if I had, I would indeed still be serving a life sentence. So yes Mrs. Mary, you had other options. After all, God is not dead. He would have taken care of you and the children. So because God is not dead, my children’s father is still alive and well, and thanks to God, we are now better than ever.

Linda Martin
Madison Street
McMinnville