July Magazine 2012

Page 160

Things are out of Control Lela Ann Albert In 1996, on Sunday evening in February, all ‘hell’ broke loose! I called the police after Dan hit into the wall of our daughter’s bedroom, then threatened to do me physical harm. From this time on, it was one incident after another, Dan’s abusive behaviours increased including abusing our children. There were many police and court interventions. Dan refused to change. So I made a life changing decision. This decision would prove to be the best decision I ever made for me and my children. (The abusive behaviours with Dan had been ongoing since the time I married him in 1882). This incident started the actual process of me leaving him after 16 years of marriage. By the middle of January of 1998, the husband Dan Albert, Jr., was served the divorce papers, life was about to change again, things only got worse. The divorce was based on ‘extreme cruelty’. Acts of domestic violence. Things got worse at this point. The following are acts of violence/ criminal behaviour; January/February/6 week period. The husband Dan changed the locks on our house, could no longer access my house, he stalked me, driving back and forth at my parents home where I lived with the children, followed me to work on day, sending me things through the mails and harassing me with numerous phones calls. I ended up making police reports and filed charges against him. Please note: I file in civil court for the right to access my own home, granted, received the new key to my house, April 1998. Mean while, during this time, I had been hired to work at FSA by the end of January. So by April, I was totally off of welfare. In March ended up a court hearing for visitations, the husband Dan had supervised visitations due to his abuse and mental illness, so he started seeing our children by the end of March of 1998. This time period was very stressful for both me and for my children. 160


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