Life is Just a Bowl of Choices by Robyn Russell

So much of the violence and abuse that takes place either within the family or outside of it can affect anyone. Throughout my life I have seen so much worse and sometimes some unbelievable abuse that can be perpetrated on one human being by another. These are just my experiences and how I managed to overcome or live with them.
Life changed dramatically for us all when Mum married my step father, Norman, a likeable, jolly Scotsman, who drove a train and unfortunately drank to excess. In a social environment he was the life and soul of the party and our evenings changed to going to pubs, clubs and hotels, sleeping in the car while Mum waited, sober, to get us all home safe.
Once in the car and at home he changed to a violent drunk, regularly throwing food and furniture and eventually beating Mum on what seemed like a nightly occurrence.