Growing up in the seventies, our family appeared perfect to the residents of our small community. We were the family others strove to emulate. My mother idolized Jacqueline Kennedy for her poise, beauty, and style. She was determined to have her Camelot on the North Dakota prairie. My father was an unwilling participant in her goal of perfection; the children were props in the setting she was determined to create. We were to look cute, behave, and stay out of her way. The need for perfection in my mother and undiagnosed mental illnesses in my parents infiltrated into all parts of our lives, unrecognized by all those around us and the disastrous consequences that would ensue.

My four-decade journey, authentic and raw, is written to help chip away the stigma associated with mental illness in order to create the healthy relationships we all crave and need as humans. A portion of each book purchased will go to National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).