I created a blog about survival with a mission to help people. Because I survived all the top five most stressful and life-changing events, I earned the nickname Tough Cookie. Also, my life includes a diagnosis of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Since I was eight, I learned how writing could heal the hurt and disappointment on the way to Find Your Giants and Claim Your Walls!
As I wrote about in Jailbait Advocate Part 1, Jailbait Advocate Part 2, and Jailbait Advocate Part 3, trying to advocate for Hayes from first through fifth grade was scary, depressing, and unjust as soon as Charles Kaplan became the new principal. Jailbait Advocate Part… Read More »Jailbait Advocate Part 4
If you read this survival story, you will understand why I tagged myself as a Jailbait Advocate. Jailbait Advocate Part 3 shows how some bureaucrats discriminate against children and families and get away with it. I call this injustice THE BUREAUCRATIC NO ACCOUNTABILITY SOLUTION. The… Read More »Jailbait Advocate Part 3
This survival story escalates what I shared in Jailbait Advocate Part 1. Had I not been a Jailbait Advocate, my son might have died on the playground because the new principal was not implementing his IEP (Individual Education Plan). Dangers Of An Enlarged Spleen If… Read More »Jailbait Advocate Part 2
I am proud to be a jailbait advocate because I was willing to go to jail to protect my child in the Albuquerque Public School (APS) system. This is the first of a series of survival stories about my son’s experience in the public school… Read More »Jailbait Advocate Part 1
Since I was eight years old, writing is my rescue from pain, sadness, and fear. I explain how traumatic my childhood was in Midwestern Backstory, Blended Abandonment, The Baptists, Paul’s Rules, Rescue From Less Than, Supper To Self-Protection, Generational Trauma Entrepreneur, High Functioning Alcoholism, The… Read More »Writing Is My Rescue
Hayes was four years and nine months old when we got the diagnosis, and he would be starting kindergarten in five months. The recent medical evaluations qualified him as a preschooler with special education needs. (If this is your first visit to my website, you… Read More »Preschoolers With Special Education Needs
As I mentioned on my About My Life page, one of my life experiences included working as a caregiver for the elderly. For five years, I was employed by Comfort Keepers in Huntington Beach, California. This story uniquely shows how cats help elders. The Tootsievention… Read More »How Cats Help Elders
Time And Energy Management This is my Tough Cookie take on how to value and manage time. This is also my annual pep talk to myself. If interested, please also check out my 2023 version of How To Survive With Passion And Purpose. Since it… Read More »How To Value And Manage Time
Which Will You Choose? In deep sorrow, choosing Peace or Grief seems like a no-brainer, but it is not. Your heart leads you one way while your mind takes you in a different direction. After our son’s diagnosis, I often felt like I was losing… Read More »Peace Or Grief
The Neurologist The three of us went to the neurologist appointment. Pete and I had no idea this appointment would be the continuation of a four year diagnostic process to determine whether Hayes had Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophy. The neurologist was great with Hayes,… Read More »Four Year Diagnostic Process