Cans In The Dryer (Why Can't I Just Leave?‪)‬

“Why doesn’t she just leave?” “Maybe she likes being abused.” “Is she too stupid to see how he treats her?” “Why doesn’t she stand up for herself?” In her twenty-plus years with an abuser, the author heard these hurtful words spoken by well-meaning people lacking insight. Her search for counsel was met with bad advice, promised help never coming to fruition, and misunderstanding of her intense inner struggle. Finding little help, her own search took her into her past where she had to examine old experiences and relationships, causing her to rethink her view of the world, God and herself. Forced to face wounds and scars she didn’t realize she had, she struggled to survive and then escape. Learning that the community of abused women includes doctors, psychiatrists, lawyers, movie stars and police officers--women the world deems successful, confident and strong--helped fuel her determination to overcome overwhelming odds. Cans in the Dryer is Anna Potter’s account of her lonely search for answers. Because she kept thorough journals her insider’s view of life with an angry, controlling spouse is graphic, as is her expressions of longing for true love. Her narrative is a progressive journey, culminating in God’s gift of a selfless, patient love that filled the empty shell she had become, enabling her to finally accept the love of God and her own worth. Potter, a graduate of Lee University and Ashland Theological Seminary, has done missions work in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Cans in the Dryer is her first book.  She hopes her transparency will help other women begin the journey to a better life, a journey that might well take them into their pasts as well.  


The author may be contacted at cansinthedryer@gmail.com. A website is under construction.  


The author with her husband and Charlie, July 2015