My name is Alma Johnson. I have 2 minor children and 1 adult child. A little over a year ago, I ended my 14-year relationship with my youngest child's father, whom I was also engaged to. Although, like many other relationships, we had our ups and downs, we had more downs than anything. Our relationship was very toxic, and down the line, it became violent. There were times when I went to work with a busted lip, busted nose, and just not in the right mind frame due to an episode we might have had that day. I know many may ask why stay in a relationship that long due to the violent behavior. To answer that question, I was afraid. #1, he always stated if I was to leave him, it wasn’t gonna be good. #2, I had a lot of moments of what if’s, which means what if my car breaks down or what if my child is in need of something when I can’t afford certain things. #3, as a parent, especially when you have such great kids, you want to be able to provide for them and be physically present in their lives. During the last five years, things were getting worse. I was at my breaking point. I had enough! At that moment, which is so selfish of me to say, I didn’t care what happens to me (knowing I have kids to live for). But I was tired of running and making it seem like my life is all perfect when it wasn’t. The last time he put his hands on me, he waited for me to drop off our son at daycare. I came out the door, and there he was. My heart dropped! He started saying all these mean words and being very aggressive and violent towards me. I built the courage to go to the police station, where they advised me to go down to Markham courthouse to file an emergency restraining order, which was granted. I currently have a 2-year restraining order on him. (Praise God) We do have child support and visitation in place through the courts. One thing about this situation, I would NEVER try to keep our son away from him. I love the fact that our son gets to have both parents to love him unconditionally in 2 separate households. Fast forward a little, my son's father has tried to get full custody of him, which was denied. And now he has an attorney to try to get custody of our son. We have court coming up on August 26, 2025, at 10 am, and I don’t want to walk into court without an attorney.