My husband died suddenly in 2011. I found myself, after 15 years of being at home with my children, parenting alone, with a part-time job that would never support our lifestyle. There was nowhere for all the crazy, and all the fear, to go but down on paper. As a writer, it was my only outlet.
When I got the news was the darkest moment for me. Shock. Disbelief. Confusion. The emotions so common when we get the “news.” Even though it was 19 years ago, I remember what followed. I said to myself, “I will get through this. I will be well.” I remember thinking, “Now is the time to use every single ounce of strength, all my inner resource and knowledge to become well.” I was more determined than I had ever been in my life.