Shania Twain has had a helluva time with relationships in her life. Not only did she witness her mother and stepfather’s abusive marriage but going through her own divorce was devastating in its own right.
Twain has a new memoir she is promoting titled appropriately “From This Moment On” and she recently dished with Parade on it and more!
ON THE DISCOVERY THAT HER HUSBAND (APPROPRIATELY NAMED MUTT) WAS HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH HER BFF:
It was “the most shocking and painful truth of my life since the death of my parents twenty years earlier….For the first week after finding out about the affair, I was ready to die–to go to bed forever and never wake up. Or to hurt someone. I was ready to do something desperate, but in reality, there was nothing to do but to suffer through it. Fortunately, when you’re a mom, the responsibility of caring for your child can keep you going.
She adds, “Denial can have multiple layers, and rationalizing is common when you’re trying to absorb something you just don’t want to believe. I thought: Okay, so maybe they made a mistake. My husband and my friend will come to their senses and realize that. I was ready to forgive, and forget, make things right , move on, and get on with our lives. Not like nothing had happened, but like something had happened that I thought was fixable. But his was not to be.
BUT SHE IS NOT BITTER:
“Despite everything, I still loved my husband. And I still loved my friend. I put myself in their shoes with the understanding that accidents happen, we’re all human, and we all make mistakes….Eventually, I came to the point of accepting the end of my marriage.”
ON THE INTENSE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SPOUSAL ABUSE SHE WITNESSED AS A CHILD:
“My mother was a featherweight and so easy to push around. Jerry had her on the bathroom floor by the toilet, and, grabbing her hair, he slammed her head against the side of the basin, knocking her out cold. I could see Jerry repeatedly plunge my mother’s head into the toilet bowl, then pull it out again. I remember wondering, ‘Why is he trying to drown her when she’s already dead?’ I wanted to scream, ‘Stop, you already killed her!’ I wanted to stop him, but I was too afraid…The enormity of that helplessness transferred to me, and I felt as limp as she was.”
You can check out the entire interview at Parade.com.
