This week's Decent Fucking Human is Melanie Verstraete. Her fucked up story is about toxic relationships.
 
Melanie had six step-dads by the time she was 21. You might think a stable of step-dads makes for a fucked up story in itself, but that wasn't the bulk of the story here. It contributed for sure, and nobody can argue that she had a great role model for relationships, but she wasn't here to talk about a revolving door of father figures. Melanie was here to talk about the toxic relationships in her life, and how her second divorce led to an epiphany that helped her break her cycle. 

Her first husband had "all the red flags," but as she put it, she had to learn the hard way. It was when her second marriage ended that she realized a hard truth. She might have had two less-than-stellar husbands, but she was the one who went ahead and married them. She asked herself, "what the fuck is wrong with you that you keep choosing and marrying these toxic men?" It wasn't self-loathing as much as it was an aha moment, but she still felt broken. 

Here's where we backtrack a little. There was a pretty shitty step-dad during her teen years. I said her story is not about the step-dads, but when you're getting into your earliest relationships at a time when your mom is with a man who is emotionally abusing you, you're probably not learning the best lessons. 

Sometimes the not-so-fun lessons are the ones you learn the most from, and Melanie learned a lot from her failed relationships. She's now using those lessons to help others as a love and relationship expert at The Wild Heart Life.