Cheri Foster

In "The Dance", I detail an abusive relationship from the romantic start to the painful finish. My hope is that someone who is in an abusive relationship will be able to identify with my mistakes and learn from them. I also want to help the families and friends of abused women, by showing them some of the dynamics that are involved in this kind of relationship.

In order to understand why we stay with an abuser, it helps to understand how and why we fell in love with them in the first place. In many situations, the beginning of the relationship is extremely romantic, like a fairytale. The emotional "high?s" are higher than most people could ever imagine.

My relationship with Shane lasted a little under six months. That was too long. I should have left him when the first red flag popped up, and I should have listened to my gut.

All of the incidents in the story actually happened about ten years ago.

I would like to thank Paul Searles, Life Coach, http://www.personal-change.com/, for teaching me not only to "listen to my gut," but to "listen sooner."

Thank you Paul.

Thank you for reading my story and please feel free to e-mail me with your comments. I would love to hear from you!

Email me CheriFosterAuthor@msn.com

Please click here to preview my book, "The Dance"