I have weathered many storms in my lifetime. I have been married four times. Two of which lasted over 20 years, yet still ended in divorce.I suffered the loss of my relationship with my first love who I thought was my true love in one divorce and the loss of my best friend in the other. I am an only child whose father was murdered while I was a toddler and whose mother died while living with me due to a lengthy illness. I was catastrophically devastated by her death! I wound up raising three sons alone (who by the way, turned out to be incredible family men). I have overcome a drug and alcohol addiction that I chose to self-medicate myself. I have built and lost my dream home, my dream car, as well as my career that I had a great passion for, after years of preparation. I have been incarcerated and took a loss of over $200,000 while being away for two years. Incarceration itself was a terrifying experience for me. I was absolutely lost upon my release.

Even though I was brought up in the church, my faith in God wavered, because of what I was going through. I did not understand why God had seemingly turned a deaf ear to my prayers. I stood on His words that I read in the Bible, and believed everything I read,even if I did not understand it all. But nothing and no one was working out on my behalf.

I had no peace and was full of regret, defeat, and abandonment for years.

Then I started to write. Writing became my savior. I let go of the present and past obstacles when I put it into words. It became euphoric and exhilarating to me. Most of all I was thrilled to retreat to the serenity and contentment that I felt while I wrote. It was the only positive place in my life and I retreated there more and more. When I wrote, it took me to a place that transferred my pain into the words that I wrote. And I left it there in my written words. I experienced a much needed place of tranquility. I wrote poems for years before I published my first book. It was my means of survival.

Years passed and time marched on. Then I met and married my most loving and understanding husband, who made it his mission to teach me to smile again and to throw back my head and laugh. Things that I had not been able to do for a long time. He encouraged me to publish my writing. We started going back to church again together. My church has a wonderful ministry that inspired my faith and spiritual growth. I was finally alive again! Now, I was able and equipped to face the future with hope and with courage. I now feel inspired and encouraged and I am grateful for being in this place, in my life.