Message sent: If it quacks like a duck -- and has a record -- move on

The story of the Florida mother who has been missing for several weeks from her home has been in the headlines.

No one knows where she is or what happened to her -- although they suspect her former boyfriend -- a discharged Marine with a history of domestic violence.

And that is where there is a lesson to be learned for young women and mothers everywhere.

A man with an extensive criminal history and a history with you of being angry and violent is not someone who should be in your life. No matter how handsome, no matter how rich, no matter how persuasive.

It is not a matter of blaming the victim or excusing the behavior of the abuser. It is a matter of warning others about how to prevent themselves from ending up in the same circumstance.

If you are being threatened, leave. If you encounter a man with a criminal past and you have a child, stay away. That is how you stay alive ... and safe.

Too many times, young women think it cannot happen to them -- that THEIR boyfriend or husband will change.

And, oftentimes, those are the ones who end up beaten up or worse.

We can certainly hope this Florida woman's story ends happily -- although it is beginning to look doubtful it will.

But perhaps her story just might save someone else's life.

Published in Editorials on December 8, 2011 10:43 AM