Women and domestic violence. A very sobering statistic - it is estimated that nearly 25% of all women are victims of domestic violence. Over 1,200 women are killed and over 2 million are injured at the hands of their “intimate partner”.

Black women were more likely to report domestic violence than whites or Hispanics, but it was most frequent among multiracial, American Indian and Alaska native women.

Women of all income and education levels suffer such abuse, although it was more frequent among the poorest and those who attended but did not graduate from college.

And there are other impacts to these abused women - they are 70% more likely to drink to excess, 50% more likely to use a cane, wheelchair or other disabled equipment, 80% more likely to have a stroke, 70% more likely to have heart disease, and 60% more likely to have arthritis.

This is something we never envision when we fall in love with the man of our dreams. I know it is so much easier said than done, but if you do find yourself in an abusive situation, please have the courage to get help and get to a safe place. Especially when there are children involved.

Don’t be a meddling parent! With the newly coined phrase “emerging adulthood” we now see a lot of grown kids who aren’t ready yet to be grownups. And how the parents handle the relationship during this in between time can have a significant impact to their future relationship. The trick seems to be to not meddle too much - even though you might think your 20-something is not acting their age. If you push too much, they might just pull ever further away. I might need to email this article to my mother in law who still at times just doesn’t get it - even though her “child” is now 40!