CARENCRO, La. (KLFY) — A Carencro grandmother is going viral on TikTok for shining a light on domestic violence awareness through edgy, funny and relatable videos.
75-year-old Flora Young has been using the widely popular social media app to encourage those in abusive relationships to walk away.
“I was once married to a man who called me stupid every day,” Young said.
“He destroyed my confidence. He thought he owned me.”
According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, domestic violence is a pattern of behaviors used by one partner to maintain power and control over another partner in an intimate relationship.
Young tells News 10 that domestic violence is not the same for everyone.
“For many years, I felt like an object in my marriage and not a partner. I was just a thing to him, and although I was never subject to physical violence, he was verbally abusive and it almost destroyed me”
Over the years, things got worse, she said.
“The final straw was when he came home one night drunk and stood over my bed and told me he was going to kill me and the children.”
She said she finally left but anger issues became a problem.
“I was gone but I was angry all the time because I tolerated all of that for so long. I shouldn’t have put up with that.”
She said many years of counseling taught her about self love.
“When someone puts you down all the time, you start to believe everything they say and I wasn’t assertive so I started to believe him.”
She said courage and confidence will follow anger.
“I walked away with three children, and I must say this don’t leave your children behind.”
She says many women stay thinking that they will leave until the children are older.
“Children are better off in solid homes with one parent, instead of a dysfunctional one where one parent is controlling and abusive.”
Many years later, Young is now living what she calls “her best life,” and making videos to inspire those seeking help or looking for a way out.
Her handle on the platform is @youwishiwasyourgranny and she has 215K followers and more than five million likes.
“You can do it, she says. Get out and get your life back.”
