My experience illustrates that abuse does not always present in the ways women are conditioned to expect. In my case, the harm occurred when my ex-husband informed me that his father had discarded more than $100,000 worth of my professional materials, along with the documents from my undergraduate degree. These items were stored in the house and were thrown away without my knowledge or consent.
These materials were irreplaceable. My undergraduate design degree required extensive work, projects, online portfolios, and documentation that represented years of academic effort and financial investment. The loss of these items were devastating.
At the time, the law required that my personal property be returned to me. Despite this legal obligation, my belongings were never returned, and the destruction of my academic materials was never addressed. Although I complied fully with the legal requirements placed upon me, the same standard was not applied to the other party. The presiding judge signed off on the matter without taking corrective action or enforcing the return of my property.
This experience left me not only without irreplaceable academic and professional materials, but also without acknowledgement or accountability from the legal system. The impact was profound, and the lack of the recourse remains deeply troubling.
Are we clear.
Healing, always,
Jennifer Nicole Nelson, Principal Designer
