...IT'S 'PERSON'-AL.

In my early 40s, I happened upon this portrait by Artist Rush Cole. It was at that moment, I realized my world had been turned upside down on one fateful evening in a backyard tent at a typical high school over-night slumber party. To this day, I still recognize the moment our God-given survival tool took its sharp blade and split my emotional Being into two, separating my damaged Inner Child from the hopeful Functioning Child so that I could 'keep on'. I kept on, but the damage that had been done could only compound over the years. Child abuse, nevertheless incest, was not discussed and no support systems in place at the time to help anyone recover. In/out of therapy and decades 4+ later...

By my late 50s, I had endured burying 2 of my own children 13 years apart and 6 abusive marriages, yet, won the war against all substance abuse. After my final divorce, I floated from home to home, securing jobs and rooms in private residences, with no true home-base for 20 yrs. A long--time male friend, who was well-versed on all that was 'bundled' in me, made me an offer for a safe environment where I could be treated with the respect that any 'Princess' deserves. I welcomed the offer whole heartedly, sold the little I owned, left my past behind and moved forward to my new safety zone ... only to be blitzed by a sexual betrayal disclosure, a poison dart to a #METOO. A day later...

In the late afternoon, I drove down from the GA mountaintop, trying to focus on the road through my tears, I had just poured the pain of my Heart out to a long-term, female friend who dismissed my pain with the poison dart for those grieving, "Get over it." I had reached a level of pain that matched what I had experienced when I was informed that my 17 yr-old son had been hit by a drunk driver and died - a level of pain that welcomes ceasing to feel. As I was slowing down to pull off the road, a car pulled in front of me pressing its brakes, causing me to read the license plate: 'GODSLUV', '2009'. I screamed out to the Universe, "I get the message! Now PLEASE, show me a tangible path I can hold on to and share!" And So It Is...