What you are about to read is not a work of fiction though some of it is a work of imagination.

It is a memoir, a story spanning almost seventy years of living – of traveling on a journey of discovery, of loss, and ultimately, of surviving.

Much of this is about trauma; trauma that began when I was six weeks old and had no words or understanding of what was happening in my short life.

Trauma continued through a series of childhood injuries and life-threatening health crises as a young woman.

I buried much about the losses and instead of grieving them, turned them inward and against myself.

But this is not just a story of despair. Along the way there were good adventures – some sex, drugs, rock’n’roll – and marriages, successful and unsuccessful businesses, a long career as a psychotherapist…and most of all, there was a horse.

And then there was another horse.

I learned about love and loyalty from them. Only after loving them and letting them go was I able to make sense of the trauma I endured as a baby, as a child, as a nineteen-year-old girl.

I invite you to come along with me on my journey. There may be places where it is hard to hear, or hard to follow. There will be places where I have asked you to take a breath, stop for a beat, and take another breath. Sometimes you may wish to do this, even when I haven’t suggested it.

I hope this story will serve you as a guide on your own path through discovery and into wholeness.