Truth and Trust Walk Into a Bar . . .
Most everyone knows the premise of a “walked into a bar” joke. The basic syntax is: _______ and _______ walk into a bar . . . presumably, to have a drink, and then BAM something weird, ironic or unexpected happens. The audience response is usually: a) a pained groan...
How in the Hell Did I Get Here?
Everyone has an answer for the age-old, How in the hell did you GET HERE? question. We have all heard those profound and relatable "pivotal moment" stories from people who have triumphed against all odds, come what may. Stories well worn but never dull,...
Breaking Up With My PTSD – The Reality of Healing From Haunting Trauma
My almost life-long companion and I are actually breaking up. I should be more specific. What I’m breaking up with is more exactly known as C-PTSD, a form of PTSD. I think we’re in the final stages of our separation. It’s been a long and drawn-out breakup...
Don’t You Dare Give Up (Like I Almost Did)
It was a dark and stormy night of the soul under heavy clouds of unknowing. The kind of storm that makes you drop the blinds and hunker down and think about candles in case power lines go down. The kind that makes you coulda-woulda-shoulda yourself about not buying a...
Unpacking Complex PTSD – The Survivor’s Lens of Childhood Trauma
Seeing my father lying in a casket was as surreal for me as reuniting with him had been just the month before. Neither seemed real. Somehow, I still finished my last semester of high school. Trying to save my mother from being beaten by my father during a drunken,...
On This Day
I don't think I'll ever forget this day no matter how many years tick by. This date comes again every year but any other time, if you ask me the exact date I finally laid eyes on my father again, I can't always remember except that it was just after Thanksgiving.The...
