The book speaks in detail about how you witnessed your mother be a victim of domestic violence. How were you able to get closure from the pain of that relationship?
Before my mother passed, she apologized and that meant the world to me. For so long — and I hate to use this word — I hated her. Because as a child watching her get beat, I just didn’t understand why she didn’t leave. It took me to get older and find myself in a similar relationship to understand that it’s not that easy. I went to therapy and got myself in a better position because I never wanted to be like my mother. But what made this book possible for me to write, was going through the healing process myself and her apologizing after everything, it gave me the ability to close that chapter and move on.
You talk about being the girl who was always fly and always looked like she had it together. Do you think it was easier to hide your pain because of that image?
Absolutely. Even as a young girl I would dress fly and make sure I was always pulled together. The drawback to that is people never think that you are dealing with anything because they judge you on your appearance. I hope that this book helps people realize that looks can be deceiving. Just because a person’s hair is done and clothes are expensive doesn’t mean they aren’t broken and hurting beneath all of that.
