It’s true! I totally did it! I published my new poetry book with KDP! I can almost hear my best friend from heaven saying, “It’s about damn time!” She was the one who pushed me to publish my first book back in 2013. She was my mentor during the process and my cheerleader. She passed away two months later. Looking back now I realize that she left me with a gift. I was just too wrapped up in my grief and anger I didn’t see it. Dead at 40-years-old and I had just separated from my ex-husband. That was just the beginning of things spiraling out of control. The hits would just keep on coming until my entire life totally imploded.

When Murphy’s Law had its fill of me I was broken. I had lost my first grandson, my husband (divorce,) my house, my pets, photography equipment, my best friend passed away, my daughter ended up in jail then rehab and her children were put in foster care. If that was not enough my power wheelchair broke down. When the smoke cleared I was alone and broken. I was not healthy to be around people and I knew it.

I kept a few close friends in the loop and my friends Deborah and Amy kept me functioning and watched out for me. I shut down to find a way to heal. Looking back, I remember having to make peace with being stuck in limbo until the reset fell into place and I could move again. That is the thing with grief, you cannot rush it. Even emotional and spiritual injuries need a period of rest just as physical injuries do.

This book is filled with the poetic journey through this time to where I am today. I am so grateful to be on the other side. I am stable, I am rebuilding my finances, I have lived in the same apartment for five years (Longest I have lived anywhere as an adult.) My daughter is recovering and is active in her kid’s life and I am doing the things I love. I plan to follow up this book with a journal that goes deeper into the healing process. I am not a mental health expert by any means. I am just offering up my experience. In the mean time I hope you enjoy Through the Cellar Door: A Poetic Journey of Healing and I hope it inspires you in your own healing.

Through the Cellar Door is available on Amazon now!