Theory Brought to Life
December 16, 2018
Facing Fear, Family, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma Family, Mental Health, motherhood, parenting, recovery, truth 18 Comments
I’m in awe of a recent experience that brought my classwork alive.
The week before Thanksgiving, a speaker in my class was discussing how children deal with trauma. She was explaining how the brain works and what needs to happen for them to process trauma. It was a lot of interesting theory. Until she said something that really hit home.
“Children need to tell the trauma story over and over and over. This is how they metabolize, process, and heal from it.”
One of my most traumatic stories is one that still has an emotional life of its own. Every time I think about, talk about, or write about this event, the feelings are still incredibly raw. I thought about how I was never allowed to tell my stories, let alone repeatedly. In fact, this story remains mostly untold. More
It’s going to be beautiful
August 6, 2017
Facing Fear, My Journey with God, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma Action, Adventure, Family, gratitude, grief, healing, Mental Health, moving forward, recovery, truth 36 Comments
Last month I went on a 2500 mile solo camping trip on my motorcycle. I went through 7 states in 6 days.
I was both excited and nervous to go solo, but also determined to face my fears.
It was time for some growth.
Turns out I had so much fun, my fears were forgotten, and definitely for naught. The trip was a confidence booster, and equally important, gave me much needed time for reflection. More
This is What I’ve been up to…
June 20, 2016
Family, My Journey with God, Personal Growth Family, finding freedom, gratitude, healing, motherhood, parenting, recovery 35 Comments
Between Bookends…
November 22, 2015
Family, My Journey with God, Personal Growth Family, Forgiveness, motherhood, parenting 39 Comments
Mom moved into an assisted living facility this month. She turned 90 this year, and she’s been legally blind for several years so it’s probably overdue.
Still, it comes on the heels of me finding out I’ll be a grandma in a few short months.
I feel sandwiched in the middle of two life altering events. Mom easing into her final chapter, my grandson soon to make his debut chapter.
The timing is odd, the emotions hard to describe.
Birthdays of My Dad and My Father
December 20, 2014
Facing Fear, Family, My Journey with God, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma childhood trauma, Christmas Memories, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, facing fear, Family, forgiving dad, Forgiving My Father, healing, Letting Go, Mental Health, recovery, Spiritual Journey, Transformation 13 Comments
Dad’s birthday is today; gone now nearly 5 years, he would be turning 92.
He hated Christmas. Apparently his birthday was forgotten every year in the midst of Christmas preparations when he was growing up. The pain of being forgotten never seemed to leave him. He would not allow us to put up a tree until his birthday had passed, and even then did so grudgingly.
I know now Dad’s Christmas experience is only a tiny window into his life story. More
School Days of Yesteryear
November 2, 2014
Family, Personal Growth Family, first day of kindergarten, Growing up in Alaska, personal growth, School Memories 29 Comments
I recently jotted down some memories of my school days in Alaska where the entire school K-12 was about 100 students. Boys routinely brought guns to school for after-school hunting, the basketball team flew to other villages every weekend to compete, being white meant I was a minority, and so much more that used to seem normal to me. I thought I’d share some of these memories with you today. I’d love to hear about your unusual school days, too!
Our kindergarten class went to the community library building and all I remember was watching Sesame Street. Our family didn’t have TV and it was a novelty to me. Big Bird was quite mesmerizing! I also remember going to the ‘big school’ down the street and visiting the first grade class. That was exciting! I couldn’t wait to start school.
Though I was thrilled to be in school, first grade is very vague for me. About all I remember is liking my teacher, Mrs. Randazzo.
Mrs. Knapp entered my life for second grade. She was the most magnificent and wonderful person I knew. I simply adored her. She always had a smile and she always made me feel special and smart. All these years later, she told me I was one of four second graders in that class that could read. It explained why I remember being called on to read the script below the silent films we watched sometimes. She had a reading corner with lots of books and cards you could mark off when you finished a book. I couldn’t get enough of reading, I think mostly because she gave me lots of praise and encouragement.
Third and fourth grades were with Mrs. O’Donnell. She was a spitfire and didn’t settle for any nonsense. Tammy was a year older than me and I remember the two of them getting tangled up one time. It wasn’t pretty. Tammy bit Mrs. O’Donnell and all hell broke loose. More