Running to escape the past, determined to stop a generational cycle of abuse, Kathy marries at eighteen, seeking to build the best possible life. Twenty-one years later, a change of direction, a new beginning has her returning to the thing she has tried to escape for years. Betrayed by lies and fake smiles, Kathy finds herself back in a dysfunctional family environment when she opens up her heart to a widowed, handicapped man and his motherless daughter. However, their honeymoon reveals Kathy's new life would be one of domestic violence. Violence that would make the abuse of her childhood seem almost nominal. Haunted by the fear of a once again failed marriage, burdened by her desire to help this man and his daughter, Kathy struggles to make things work. Huddled in the corner of a dark closet, alone, physically bruised and emotionally scarred far deeper than the visible evidence; Kathy is controlled not only an abusive husband, but also by his child who learned all the ropes of abuse and manipulation from her father. Under their cruel rule of authority, for five years Kathy lives in a dominating, dictatorship household. Remorse overwhelms, she questions her faith, where is God in all of this? "Who Will Hold the Ladder?" A final abuse drove a broken woman to wander for days trying to fill memory voids. A relentless faith and a realization of wanting to live; Kathy walks away from the domestic violence. A walk that takes her down a path of newfound inner courage and strength. Once again she begins to climb up the ladder of her life with God steadying the ladder, His tender, soothing voice encouraging each of her fragile steps towards the top and freedom.