Almost 30 years ago, when I was a newlywed fresh out of high school, my husband, Danny, who was 18 at the time, beat me with a motorcycle helmet. The day after the attack, which landed me in the hospital, I left our home and never saw him again. It was the first and only incident of abuse I experienced from him and no criminal charges were filed.

Danny reached out to me a few weeks ago for the first time in almost three decades to apologize, and I had no idea how much I needed to hear that from him.