I was recently asked if it was difficult to share such personal, intimate stories from my life when I wrote “Choosing Life.” I’ll try my best to describe a mindset that I probably share with other people who were abused as children. My head is full of stories about me and about my family. But as I child I learned to disconnect from what was going on around me. I developed the ability to block out everything around me so…..
When I wrote “Choosing Life,” I told you a little about my father’s father. Grandpop worked in a rivet factory and, after the war, got my father started in that business. He was an Irishman, and therefore charming, but he was a drunk. Every Friday night he spent his whole paycheck at the local bar. Grandpop also had a short fuse. One time, when another man at the bar made him angry, he knocked him unconcious with a single punch……
Someone who recently read my book “Choosing Life” told me that my story made her angry at my parents. After a moment of enjoying the empathy, I realized what I had to tell her. The dysfunction did not start with my parents. It goes back I don’t know how many generations. Let me tell you about my mother’s mother, Gram. Gram’s mother died when she was in third grade. School was over for her. She was sent to live with her…..
Everyone has someone in their lives, especially in childhood, who tried, and for the most part succeeded, in making our lives miserable. I just had a few more of them, and, perhaps, mine were a bit more colorful. All I know is that whenever I shared my stories with people, they told me that I should write a book. It only took them 71 1/2 years to convince me. Never give up. I survived because I learned to laugh at…..
Welcome. My name is Tracy M. Smith, author of Choosing Life: Sometimes the Most Difficult Life to Save Is Your Own. I’m so happy to have you as a visitor to my blog about my new book. This project is very special to me, and I hope to share some of that excitement with you here. I’ll be using this blog to interact with you about Choosing Life, expanding on some of the topics in it and blogging on some…..