She Got Out.

So excited to share this with you- a message I just received this weekend.

I will say that the Awareness posts were my least read blogs, but I knew they would be. I knew I might lose some readers by posting so much on a yucky topic. Most don't want to think about it! Why would we? But I believe so much that it's a problem more common than we realize, that it's worth the risk to take the subject on. We've got to educate ourselves and be prepared to help people.

Then this amazing message came to my inbox this weekend, and I did the happy dance. So grateful for good endings. I only changed the cities mentioned to keep it anonymous. Read it here for yourself:

"I was going through your blog (as I do on a regular basis :) and I noticed your posts about Teen Dating Violence Month.

This was so "on time" as my mother would say. I recently had a friend (it really was a friend, not myself, thank God) who went through an abusive relationship, and she was lucky enough to get out. The hard part was that she was completely out of touch with everyone here in Houston, because she was now in Dallas with her boyfriend. I had noticed some signs previously, but I had no real "proof" because she was forced by this boyfriend not to talk to anyone in Houston. When she finally reached out to me, I tried to convince her that she was better than that. She's a wonderful person, and no one deserves to be treated that way. She's happily out of the relationship, and is focusing on building up her confidence and getting back to a sense of normalcy.

I'm sharing this with you to let you know that your blog helped me realize that as much as I felt helpless, I was able to read the stories on your blog to get a sense of what she was feeling. It's hard watching your friend get hurt, but helping her out of it makes you realize how much friendship really does change lives".

I'm so proud of both of these girls. One for reaching out for help even though it must have been scary, then listening to reason and getting herself out of a bad situation. And for the girl who shared this story, for doing the difficult thing and getting involved in a hard situation, in order to help her friend.

It's so much easier to look the other way sometimes. But lives can be changed.

I'm also very proud of the two ladies who shared their stories, when it would have been easier to bury the story in shame and try to forget. Yet both of these ladies have said that if it can help one person, they would rather share their story. And guess what? It did help one person. Because they shared how they felt while being in the middle of an abusive relationship, my friend could begin to understand how her friend felt, and figure out how to help her.

One girl is finding her way out of an abusive dating relationship and back to normalcy, one friend now feels more empowered in that she actually helped a friend in need, and felt equipped to do so.

I think this is a wonderful ending to all of our posts during February Awareness Month.

If you haven't watched "Reviving Ophelia", the Lifetime movie tackling this subject by making a fiction movie that appeals to girls, buy it on iTunes now and watch it. You can find it at www.mylifetime.com.