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!
Kismet In a previous post, Hot One In Classified, I wrote about a dice game called Kismet, a game of luck and taking a chance. This part of my family’s story leads me to the following: do you believe in kismet and synchronicity? Have you… Read More »Kismet And Synchronicity
Like many newlyweds, life became trying to figure out how to make ends meet and still have some money left over to have fun. Pete and I were passionate about seeing new places and tent camping. Our travels led us to the natural and sacred… Read More »New Mexico Get Away
Cupid With A Hook I think for many people, it is hard to find your fit in this world. Like many writers, I worked other jobs to pay the bills until the dream of making a living as a writer came true. In my early… Read More »Hot One In Classified
Another story in my Tough Cookie life is about how my first love stalked me. The stalker of this true story is Spyboots. Some synonyms for stalker are narcissist, ego-maniac, sneak, lurker, prowler, harasser, persecutor, or cold-hearted snake. A stalker is a person who pursues… Read More »My First Love Stalked Me
Goodbye Childhood Trauma Hello Adult Drama is a post about how your childhood experiences influence the way you make decisions as an adult. The power of traumatic childhoods is an invisible inner force that follows you into adulthood. What we grew up in, we think… Read More »Goodbye Childhood Trauma Hello Adult Drama
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