You are holding in your hand a personal invitation. If I could engrave it and emboss it in gold leafing for you, I would. The very fact you have chosen to pick up this book, look into its pages and glance over some of its contents denotes that perhaps we have something in common. Join me on this journey as we travel together and attempt to make some sense of senseless acts in life— molestation, spousal abuse, habitual rejection, poor choices in relationships, the loss of loved ones as well as my own near-death experiences. The list may seem extensive, but if you will stick with me as we walk through my life, I think maybe the result will be a positive one for you.
   No matter your age, as you read this book, should you relate to any portion of it, we have something in common and are kindred spirits in a strange sort of way. I am a baby boomer, born in the 50s, a/k/a a child of the 60s. Things were much different back then. We are now told it was a simpler time, a quieter time, a time of “innocence.” This is a tough book to write, but it has a valuable purpose. The years of silence have been unbearable. While keeping my mouth shut as a victim of molestation and abuse, the inner screaming was deafening—a specter I’ve grown weary of battling after all these years. Now we let it out. Isn’t that what we said in the 60s? Let it all hang out.
   The idea of writing a book of this nature sets me to pause with great hesitation. What if some long-kept family secrets leak out and I lose the love of people who are so very dear and precious to me? What if friends forsake me? I am so torn between protecting loved ones from the possible fallout from events that occurred and opening myself up entirely in an effort to reach out a hand of help and hope to anyone who may have also been victimized in their lifetime. It has not been an easy decision in choosing to finally speak out, but I have to believe it will someday and in some manner have been worth it all—all the pain, rejection, hurt, degradation, hopelessness, and doubt. In recounting some of the trauma and trials of my life, the intention is not to cause you, the reader, to consider it as “all about me,” but rather to share the good with the bad and, in some small way, extend a work rooted in faith, hope, and a victorious journey