WelcomeCome On In How many times have you asked the question, Why me?ultimately determining that you or maybe your life must be some cruel joke or sheer entertainment for slacker angels suffering from boredom. And while all of your so-called well-deserved hopes, dreams, and desires blur into far-fetched when I grow up fantasies, you spot a woman and deem that she must have it all. If that has been you at one time or another, dont hang your head in shame. Youre very normal. Id guess that we have all done some degree of that, at one time or another. Now, if you can HONESTLY say that that has NEVER been you, then read on, count your blessings, and consider writing a book of your own. For those who can relatethe ladies you see and envy, that appear to be so well put togethersome confident, talented, fueling the laughter at parties, making significant decisions at roundtables manned by the intellectual and influential, easily catching the eye of desirables at trendy martini bars, and the likeall of them have had sorrows, their sad stories masked by an unshaken outward demeanor. I assure you, there was a time when these women (Caucasian, African American, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, etc.) were just barely bearing their load of griefweighed down by emotional pains that started in the heart, eventually spreading to the mind, like a cancer. Attacking themweakening themalmost consuming them (if only for a short time), convincing them of the worse. But the women who are somewhat exposed on the pages of this book, much like those weve all misread and misjudged, didnt allow their disappointments to force them to throw up their hands and surrender. They fought back and lived to tell their stories. Stories that many other women share, but have chosen to rightfully keep secret. In an act of bravery, these ladies chose to come face-to-face with uncomfortable situations that they had purposely tucked away and buried. Some of them revealing things theyd never openly admitted or uttered to themselves out-loud. Know this as you read. One of the requirements of each submission was that the accounts be that of truthin other words, no fairy-tales or fabrications. However, as we all know, the truth is relative. Two people can witness the same event, but recap it with considerable differences. There are several sides to every story. So I will say this. Each chapter was written from the perspective of the contributor...truth as they saw it. And some of the testimonials paint a picture that would give even cleverly concocted Hollywood scripts a run for their money. So view this book as your all-access pass into the life of the storyteller. Each chapter is an easy, but insightful read with a beginning, middle, and end. Some of the stories spotlight doomed unions with the wrong Mr. Right or should I say Mr. Wrong shamefully wearing Mr. Rights clothing. Be aware that these chapters involve adult situations. Some with heavy adult language, left in to accurately convey the tone of distress, frustration, and/or anguish of the main character. But thats not all. Youll also get an up close and personal look at other riveting internal and external hardships that shook up and eventually shaped who these women have become. With these things in mind, your reads may give you a better understanding of how to avoid and/or bounce back from bad decisions. Or perhaps the handling of adversity that had nothing to do with your choices and everything to do with lifes promised injusticeslike when bad things happen to good people. You could also develop more compassion and a sincere appreciation for how good you have it because if you dont already knowthings could always be worse. The following stories happen to hail from the beaches of California to the sandy shores of Virginia, including many of the states in between. They come from amazing women whose upbringings, personalities, careers, and interests are all as individual as their fingerprints. But what they and their chapters share are struggle, choices, consequences, and awakenings. I ask that you dont allow your judging of these women to cloud your ability to learn from them. Each one of them voluntarily poured the innermost secrets of their lives onto paper to encourage, motivate, inspire, and protect. Their hopes are that the words will become more than thatthat the characters in the stories will become real to you, the readerthat the plots will somewhat entertain, but more importantly teach, helping others avoid pitfalls or grasp the realization that they too can overcome their own soap-opera dramas. I promise you the severely frank disclosure in each one of these chapters was no easy feat. Some of the retold circumstances resurrected unresolved anger that needed to be dealt with, hurt that had been ignored, but not forgotten or much less healed. While other accounts left the narrator shaking her head and saying if the story wasnt mine, Id find it hard to believe. I know this first hand since several of the stories are my own. In any case, each contributor, in her own way, felt that getting her saga out and onto paper gave voice to the soul and freed the spirit. In short, with honor, the following real life stories of survival, being shared with you, are not narrated by women who are standing still, but valiantly Still Standing. So sit-back and enjoy!
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