On the day my father died, my grandmother disowned me. I guess her grandchildren were too painful a reminder of her lost son. I was only 14, too devastated to care. As the years passed, though, I did begin to care and to find it unfair that she could just dismiss us from her life. At 23, I walked up…
On May 9, 2002, I was on vacation in Florida with my best friend. It was great to have a break from work and just relax. I considered not taking any calls, but decided I would receive calls only from family. During that vacation, I got one of the worst calls of my life. My brother, John, had been in…
I grew up in a house where Friday nights consisted of Dad drunk on the floor shouting, “I love you, Diane!” My mother’s name is Gail. His consistent abuse of me, both verbally and physically, left me in a state of depression. As a child, I was filled with despair and hopelessness. At school, my mind kept wandering off into…
