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My father's mother was an abusive woman. Among other things, as a child, I saw her grab a hot cast iron frying pan off the cook stove and bash her husband (my grandfather) over the head for no apparent reason. His response was to leave the house - go to the barn (he was a farmer) - drive a truck or tractor somewhere. I never saw him as much as raise his voice to her. He also, to the best of my knowledge, never told anyone outside the family. That was almost 60 years ago. He died in 1974. She died in 1994.
Forty plus years later, as a grown professional man, I still got physically ill any time I had to visit her.
