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!
What happens when we die? In American culture, few people share their thoughts about dying. I’ve met some who think they will be the first person never to die. That question took over my mind following two life-changing events when I was barely an adult.… Read More »What Happens When We Die?
This is Number Twenty-One of the Tough Cookie Survival Tips. In this post, I summarize essential takeaways from my childhood and early adulthood to use to keep moving forward. If you read my posts from the beginning to the most recent, you know the circumstances… Read More »How I Earned The Nickname Tough Cookie
These are my memories about my mom’s mental illness secret that became unmanageable after my father’s sudden passing. I find a protective numbness takes over when extreme trauma invades your life. My mind will only accept deep grief in tiny pieces; in hindsight, my mother’s… Read More »Mental Illness Mom’s Secret
This post features the relationship I had with my father. He was the dad I loved but never understood because of his hidden binge drinking. A movie about my birth family would be The Sad House of Blended Strangers, where none of us genuinely knew… Read More »The Dad I Loved But Never Understood
Dad’s Secret This is my personal experience of being raised by a father with a high functioning drinking problem. In my post, Supper To Self-Protection, I wrote about my dad always using breath mints and vanishing to the garage for the rest of the evening… Read More »High Functioning Alcoholism
This post is all about sass and solutions to solve the Drama Dudes & Drama Dames dilemma. There is one addiction that few people acknowledge-drama. None of us escape. They stalk us in our families, friendships, and work environments. If you are a kind person… Read More »Drama Dudes & Drama Dames
Imagine your perfectly healthy child (or grandchild) is four years old. On Friday, you pick them up from childcare, and they complain about a stiff neck. That fateful day began our journey with sorrow management. They wake up several times during the night. Saturday you… Read More »Sorrow Management
These memories I share today are deeply personal and not meant to dishonor my mother and father. I write about them with the hope of helping anyone who is being abused or someone who is the abuser. This story is about generational trauma and being… Read More »Generational Trauma Entrepreneur
As a mother of a child with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and an advocate for human beings, with a specialty in physical disability and incurable disease, I quickly saw the wisdom in Label Jars, Not People. We should celebrate diversity and equality. Please let me continue… Read More »Label Jars, Not People
I would not be the strong woman survivor I am today without my belief that our spirits have purpose and live beyond this earthly life. My faith in a God without boundaries keeps hope alive for me. Christian Upbringing I am thankful for my Christian… Read More »God Without Boundaries