My Darkest Hour

My Darkest Hour



FOREWORD

A Word from Zane

When Harold first told me that he wanted to write a memoir about his experiences as an abuser, I was stunned. Not because I was not aware of domestic abuse. My book, Breaking the Cycle, deals with that very topic. However, I was surprised that such a humble, sweet-natured, excellent parent as Harold L. Turley II had abused someone. Then it made me think. The majority of the people who find themselves in these situations are not necessarily bad; they are dealing with issues that result in them lashing out verbally or physically and inflicting their own pain on someone else.

I am glad that Harold decided to write this book. There have been various books, both fiction and non-fiction, that were written about or by the abused. Rarely do we see one written by the person who victimized. It is a bold, heartfelt move and one that should not be taken lightly. Most abusers want to hide behind closed doors. They refuse to even admit that they have a problem. Even those serving prison time for domestic violence often deny their acts. Some may go through the motions of anger management and therapy while they serve their time, hoping to be paroled early. But even after all of that, the majority of them get released and abuse again.

Harold has faced his problems head-on and that is admirable. Hopefully this book will change someone. Hopefully this book will land in the hands of the men (and women) that need to read it the most: those who do the abusing. According to the American Bar Association, approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States. Those are not small figures. If you know someone who is being abused, please at least attempt to help them out of their situation. If you know someone that is abusing someone, make sure you give them this book. All of us must stop turning the other cheek to what we witness in this life. Sure, we can say that it is none of our business but that is a complete cop-out. I will be the first to admit that oftentimes abuse victims will reject help in the beginning. They are scared. They believe that they deserve it because the same thing happened in their household among their parents during their childhood. Some do not believe that they have any choice but to hang in there and hope they do not end up dead. But it only takes going too far one time.

MY DARKEST HOUR by Harold L. Turley II. Copyright © 2009 Harold L. Turley II. Reprinted by permission of Pocket Books, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., NY.