The light snow was swirling through the air on this day in 2010. The air had a bite that chilled a body and was crisp enough to make you wrap your coat tighter. Two hours was all that was left of that work day. As the patient care become closer to being complete, I had noticed that the back door of the office had opened and as I glanced around I felt the chill from outside creep in and felt the bite of fear. Curt, my estranged husband and whom had a protective order for previous threats against me walked down the hall and he stood there with a stare that sent the message that there was more going on than we knew. I excused myself after he walked away and without him seeing me asked the others in the office to call the police. I spoke with the Dr. and told him that there was reason to be alarmed that he was there, he told me to do what I had to do and went back to the patient. The others were unsure how or what to do so I went into the conference room, closed the door and on my personal phone called the police. I was giving the dispatcher all the information when the door opened and there he stood. He walked into the room closed the door looked at me and at that time, the time it took him to pull a gun out, barracde the door and tell me he was not going to let this happen, seemed like an instant. I can recall that I screamed he has a gun, dropped my phone and lunged towards him. I knew that I had to get control, I held tight and pushed the barrell as hard as I could towards the floor. The thought of keeping us all alive was all I had on my mind. We fought and as I held on as tight as I could begging for him to think about what he was doing, the gun fired. I felt the blast in my abdomin and told myself that I could not think about that now, that I had to continue to fight. The struggle continued until I finally had control of the gun and begged for the police to break in. I had to knock the chair away and then they were able to come in and take control of him. From that point on my mind was swirling like the snow. I saw faces and heard voices. I felt lost and felt saved. I shook from fear and shook from the chill. My life in an instant was forever changed and at that instant I did not realize how much. The bullet pierced two layers of clothing but did not touch my body. My God had placed his armour on me that day without me even asking him to. I was knocked down and just as I started to get up again in three days I was knocked down again. I was fired from my position that I had held for ten years. An unknown enemy had crept in where I felt safe and secure. How much further down could I go? I was told that I was not the only victim that day and that the trust had been broken. Today I see that those words were a gift and the beginning of my healing. I was a victim in that instant, yet after that instant I became a survivor. I placed my hand in the hand that was outstretched to help me up. I grabbed ahold and as each day passed, some days slow, some days fast, some days dark, some days darker and some days that felt that I would never again know how to feel safe, secure, confident and have hope in tomorrow, I held tight and stood up to become taller and taller. Today as I continue to hold tight to God’s hand and all the hands that he has given me to hold on to, I am climbing each mountain that is in front of me, I am busting through the walls that were being built around me by the enemies of my dreams, I am stumbling yet not falling and I am seeing now How Tall I Can Stand.