I really did not want to “tell anybody” this story. But I knew I had to Tell Somebody. Over the years I tried to ignore the pain I felt with each beat of my heart. I stubbornly resisted that nagging voice from within to Tell Somebody. As I dealt with the shame of accepting abuse from someone who claimed to love me, and whom I continued to try to love, I singularly sought cover, refuge, protection, and love in relationships doomed for failure from the start. Though my language of love was usually gentle and giving, romantic and passionate, warm and genuine; at times it was loud, boisterous, rebellious, unrestrained, desperate, and even dangerous. But nothing could quieten the anguish of that constant, ever-present voice inside of me . . . That still small voice that kept saying, “Tell Somebody, Tell Somebody, Tell Somebody.”