Hello, my name is Samantha. I recently came across Love Foundation on Facebook, and I wish you had been around six years ago when my daughter lost her life to domestic violence.

Her husband beat her, strangled her, and then shot her. After killing her, he took his own life. Their children, our grandchildren, were only four, six, and eight years old. They were there and witnessed the violence that took both of their parents within moments of each other.

People often ask why someone does not simply leave an abusive relationship. I wish every day that my daughter had been able to leave him for good. She tried. She went to shelters, but she always returned. She did not work outside the home, and he controlled the money. This made it extremely difficult for her to support herself and three children.

We talked to her and tried to help her understand the danger she was in, but she continued to protect him. Each time she tried to get away, he would apologize, make promises, and say the sweetest things until she believed life would be different. Once she returned, the control and abuse began again. He was determined not to let her go.

After her death, my husband and I were left grieving our daughter while suddenly becoming parents again to three traumatized children. We stepped in because they needed safety, stability, and people they could trust. There was no time to prepare for the emotional, physical, or financial responsibility.

Like many grandparents raising grandchildren, we are retired and live on a limited income. In the six years since this tragedy, we have been unable to find meaningful financial support for grandparents who unexpectedly take responsibility for children after domestic violence, murder, suicide, or another family tragedy. The children still need counseling, clothing, school supplies, medical care, transportation, food, and a stable home.

We are not sharing our story only because of what happened to our family. We are sharing it because domestic violence happens everywhere, in every community and at every income level. The effects do not end when the violence stops. The children, grandparents, and surviving relatives may carry the trauma and consequences for the rest of their lives.

Please share our story. Someone reading it may recognize the signs of control and abuse in their own relationship or in the life of someone they love. It may encourage someone to seek help before it is too late. It may also help people understand the grandparents who quietly give up retirement, financial security, and the lives they had planned in order to keep their grandchildren together and safe.

My daughter cannot tell her story today, so I will continue telling it for her and for the three children whose lives were changed forever.