July 9, 2015
Zoe Hisey
Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma
Action, depression, facing fear, finding freedom, Forgiving My Mother, healing, Letting Go, motherhood, Struggle to Forgive
It’s been a roller coaster ride the last 6 months during my blogging sabbatical. Continued growth, awareness, & forgiveness; betrayal; and a surprise!
My decision to back away from blogging and other optional activities was born of necessity. Some important relationships were requiring intensive attention, and I needed to focus on figuring out what my role was in each relationship. It’s never pretty looking in the mirror, but always worth it in the end.
It’s easy to think relationships are strong when times are good.
But when things go awry, you find out what the relationship is really made of.
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March 12, 2014
Zoe Hisey
Facing Fear, Family, My Journey with God, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma
abuse survivor, alcoholic parents, childhood trauma, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, facing fear, finding freedom, Forgiveness, Forgiving My Father, Forgiving My Mother, getting help, healing, Mental Health, motherhood, recovery, Transformation, truth
Estrangement stories cross my path often lately. It’s a painful and sensitive topic, for both sides. Some people are hurting because they’ve chosen to estrange themselves, others because they don’t understand why a loved one has estranged. Still others long for the relief of estrangement, but the pain of setting that boundary is clearly too difficult.
The journey of coming to terms with why we need to estrange ourselves can be grueling, depressing, and exhausting. Desire for belonging to family is strong, and it took considerable pain – and 3 attempts – before I was finally able to definitively draw my line in the sand. More
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January 30, 2014
Zoe Hisey
Family, Personal Growth, Recovery
adoption, childhood trauma, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, facing fear, Family, finding freedom, Forgiveness, Forgiving My Father, Forgiving My Mother, healing, Letting Go, Linda Hoye, Mental Health, Philomena, recovery, Transformation, truth, Two Hearts
The theme of adoption has always been of interest to me. As a child I used to tell people I was adopted. I always thought if you were adopted it meant you were wanted, therefore special. It never occurred to me there might be pain involved in being adopted, or giving a child up for adoption. Over the years I’ve spoken with people on both sides of the adoption picture and now understand it’s not the fairy tale I used to fantasize about.
**Spoiler Alert
The British movie Philomena caught my eye recently because of the adoption theme. Then it captured my heart because of the healing and forgiveness in her story. More
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July 24, 2013
Zoe Hisey
Family, Personal Growth, Recovery
abuse survivor, childhood trauma, depression, emotional strength, Forgiveness, Forgiving My Mother, gratitude, healing, mom factor, motherhood, PTSD, recovery, Transformation
It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since my mom and I reconciled after a 12-year estrangement. It’s been quite an adjustment having a renewed relationship with the truth about my dad as the foundation. Though it’s not perfect, I’m very grateful for the opportunity to reconnect with her. It has been an incredible time of healing for us both, I think.
Depression and PTSD rendered so many dreams and goals in my life impossible and I had given up on most of them. The long-term effects of Mom not protecting or believing me have been devastating. The good news is I’m seeing (and feeling) the boost from just knowing she believes me now. It amazes me that no matter how old we are, a mom can make such a difference. There are some very deep emotional holes being healed as we nurture the relationship. I believe there will always be scars, but the open wounds are closing.
Another gift our relationship has given me is More
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April 14, 2013
Zoe Hisey
Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery
emotional strength, Facing Adversity, facing fear, Family, finding freedom, Forgiveness, Forgiving My Mother, gratitude, healing, motherhood, NaNoWriMo, parenting, personal growth, Struggle to Forgive, truth
It’s been a few months since I shared the last excerpt of my NaNoWriMo novel “Letters of a Lifetime.” I recently reengaged in the editing process and am excited to continue working on my novel. Click here to read Part 1, and here to read Part 2.
We pick up where Anne just finished reading a shocking letter indicating her recently deceased mother was an unwed mother in the 1940’s.
Anne shook her head in disbelief. Who was Jack, and what became of his parents? Did they know about the baby? Did Ruth give the baby up for adoption, or did she keep it? Anne’s hunger for answers and truth intensified as she reread the letter.
She sank a little further into the couch, letting her mind wander a bit before diving into the next letter.
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January 9, 2013
Zoe Hisey
Personal Growth, Recovery
dogs, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, facing fear, finding freedom, Forgiveness, Forgiving My Mother, getting help, gratitude, healing, Letting Go, motherhood, NaNoWriMo, parenting, personal growth, recovery, Spiritual Journey, Struggle to Forgive, Transformation, truth
Anne has been a bit nervous to share what’s happening next in her journey through our NaNoWriMo novel draft “Letters of a Lifetime”. She’s felt very vulnerable and has resisted me posting it. However, after careful consideration, she’s decided to be brave and take the plunge. We hope you enjoy it.
If you’d like to know what happened with Anne in Excerpt #1, please click here.
The three-hour drive home from Ruth’s house in Lexington was uneventful, so Anne’s mind had time to drift. She absent-mindedly admired the heavily blossomed apple and cherry trees, and they reminded her of the cycle of life. It was odd knowing someone somewhere was rejoicing at new life with the birth of a baby, while she was grieving loss at the death of her mother.
Her weary mind eventually wandered to the peculiar phone conversation she’d had with Ruth’s favorite hospice nurse earlier. June had called and said “I have something for you. It’s a note; something your mom asked me to write down for you. She wanted you to read it yourself, and I promised her I wouldn’t just tell you.” June had taken down Anne’s address and promised to drop it in the mail promptly.
shutterstock.com
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January 1, 2013
Zoe Hisey
My Journey with God, Personal Growth, Recovery
abuse survivor, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, facing fear, finding freedom, Forgiveness, forgiving dad, Forgiving My Father, Forgiving My Mother, gratitude, healing, Letting Go, motherhood, NaNoWriMo, personal growth, recovery, Speak Your Mind, Spiritual Journey, Struggle to Forgive, Transformation, truth
Happy New Year, Everyone!!!
Happy New Year!
The New Year is here, fireworks have faded, and partygoers have headed home. The next common tradition is to write out those resolutions intended to improve our lives in the coming year.
Well, New Year’s Resolutions always left me feeling like a failure; the emotion amplified as year-end approached and my resolutions remained just words on a paper. The flab stayed (or grew), the exercise routine never started, the clothes in my closet didn’t get replaced…you get the idea. So, I stopped making resolutions years ago without any regrets!
Instead, I developed a list in my head of Things To Do in my lifetime. It wasn’t until I watched “The Bucket List”,
Bucket List -The Movie
I realized that was exactly what I had. A Bucket List! I just never had a fancy name for my ‘wish list’. In lieu of a New Year’s resolution blog, I thought I’d share my evolving Bucket List with you in the hopes you’ll share yours, too.
A few things I’ve already crossed off my list: More
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December 5, 2012
Zoe Hisey
Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery
emotional strength, facing fear, finding freedom, Forgiveness, forgiving dad, Forgiving My Mother, gratitude, healing, motherhood, NaNoWriMo, parenting, personal growth, Struggle to Forgive, Transformation, truth
Those of you who have been supporting and encouraging me know that I’ve been on a NaNoWriMo detour the last several weeks. I crossed the finish line with an official word count of 50,049 words, and it’s taken me this long to come up for air! Thanks to everyone who supported me through emails, blog comments, etc.! You are all wonderful! I even had two people tell about their own “letter stories” in their comments.
Several people have mentioned wanting to read about Anne’s adventures from this year’s novel, so I am sharing an excerpt below. It is longer than my typical posts; I hope you don’t mind. Your comments and feedback are always appreciated!
One last thing…I was advised to mention a reminder this text is subject to my copyright (see notice on home page.) Thank you!
“Letters of a Lifetime”-A Raw & Rough Excerpt
Anne sighed deeply after the last person left the house. Friends, family, and neighbors had gone out of their way to stop by after the funeral. It had been an amazing show of love for her mom, and she appreciated it. Still, it was mentally draining to cope with everyone’s sorrow and awkward comments while deep in grief herself. More
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August 2, 2012
Zoe Hisey
Facing Fear, My Journey with God, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma
abuse survivor, childhood trauma, emotional strength, facing fear, finding freedom, Forgiveness, Forgiving My Mother, gratitude, motherhood, Struggle to Forgive, truth
We worked our way through much of the awkwardness of the first day together by sharing some laughs and reminiscing about good memories. In some ways, we nearly picked up where we left off 12 years ago. We were finding our way to comfortable ground. (Later, we admitted to each other we’d both been extremely nervous about the outcome of this visit.) I believe the genuine desire of understanding and reconciliation we both had made all the difference. The Story Continues Here
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July 29, 2012
Zoe Hisey
Facing Fear, My Journey with God, Personal Growth, Recovery
emotional strength, facing fear, finding freedom, Forgiveness, Forgiving My Mother, gratitude, motherhood, Spiritual Journey, Struggle to Forgive, truth
I hardly know where to begin…there has been so much to talk about after 12 years of not seeing each other. My stomach was in knots and I fought off tears all day before arriving at the airport Wednesday. My mind raced…”She’s really coming!” “What will it be like?” “How will this go?” I hoped for the best (fairy tale) and feared the worst (she still won’t believe me). I felt woefully unprepared and it was hard to believe it was actually happening! Click Here to Read More
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