A Contagious Smile Podcast · Sep 25, 2026 · 1:08:29
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He plans a birthday breakfast. Two hours later, we’re standing at a cemetery while Michael pulls out a handmade 12-page scroll, custom silver rings, and asks Victoria to marry him again in front of her grandparents’ gravesite. It’s sweet, funny, a little chaotic, and it sets the tone for what comes next: the honest truth about what it takes to feel safe after trauma and to build a life that’s bigger than what tried to break you.
From there, we shift into Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the work we’re building in the open: peer-to-peer support, scholarships, resources, and projects that help survivors without asking their bank account to “prove” they deserve care. We talk about healing after medical trauma, what it means to be believed, and why lived experience matters when someone is finally ready to talk.
Michael brings the “man side” of domestic violence into the light, naming emotional abuse, psychological manipulation, and how shame can push people toward isolation and alcohol instead of help. Victoria shares hard truths about coercive control, leaving safely, and why consent still matters inside marriage, including the reality of spousal rape. We also explain why we’re writing kid-level companion books that guide children through courtrooms, custody changes, and the fear that it’s somehow their fault.
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Episodes: A Contagious Smile Podcast