L.Y. Marlow shares her families history of abuse

My Voice, My Words, My Journey

by L. Y. Marlow, Author of Color Me Butterfly

“I was sixteen years old the first time my left eye was blackened, my lip split. The culprit: my seventeen-year old boyfriend in a jealous rage because he thought that I was seeing another boy. Not true, but by the time he folded me in his arms and begged for forgiveness, the swelling was already rising.”

This is my story, one that is too often told. Stories that fester from women who come from all walks of life – young, old, the haves and the have-nots; domestic violence has no barriers, offers no dividing lines. It rears its ugly head in every culture, in every community.

I wish I could say that my story ended that fateful day when the swelling started to rise. I wish I could say that I had never heard of or been exposed to domestic violence before I was sixteen. I wish I could say that this phenomenon did not exist in my family before I was a stitch in my family’s fabric line, a seed in my mother’s womb. I wish I could say that sixty years of domestic violence has not prevailed my family; but those wishes are just that – wishes. I come from a legacy of women – four generations to be exact – where every kind of domestic abuse – be it physical, verbal, emotional, psychological, or sexual – has been at the hem of the fabric of my family.

In Color Me Butterfly, I tell the unnerving, real and brutal accounts of how my grandmother, my mother, myself and even my daughter, have suffered at the hands of domestic violence, literally. It seems to be a vicious cycle that won’t turn loose my family. It is a truth that has gone untold for many, many years; and it has become the match that has lit a fire beneath my torch; a torch that I have vowed to carry – a crusade in its own right – to tell my story, spread the word, and raise awareness.

About Color Me Butterfly

Spanning over sixty years, this poignant, well-written book tells the story of four generations of mothers and daughters who embrace a legacy of unconditional love, old-fashioned family values, and faith to triumph over a life plagued with unspeakable abuse and pain. Written with the flow of a novel, with frank wisdom and wit, Color Me Butterfly encourages readers to immerse themselves in this family’s life and become an advocate for change. It will incite discussion, debate and heightened awareness about intergenerational abuse and its impact on our society.