Chapters A memoir of Trauma and Heartbreak to Hope and Healing / Jacqueline S French (ePub)

I n these unprecedented times we experience uncertainty, panic, sorrow, and fear. Despair sets in with real, deep, gutted truths of not wanting to go on. We all are facing seasons of terror, tragedy, and horror regarding what seems to be governing our world today; this virus that has struck individuals in all walks of life in many different ways. This begs the question: how do we conquer this "beast"? Simply put, with LOVE-it conquers all.

Throughout my life I have always relied on the three P's: Patience, Persistence, and Prayer. I also believe that things in life fall into place when the time is right, and that love is the driving force in everything we do. Sometimes pessimistic, perturbed, and pissed off!

My adult years and the time we spent living with A.L.S. were only a continuation of the trials and tribulations I faced in my own life. As a young girl, I was sexually assaulted for years by a family acquaintance, which had a profound impact on me as I went through my teenage years. Soon after graduating from high school, I endured a car accident that almost killed me and my little brother. Years later I had an ectopic pregnancy that almost also took my life just weeks before my marriage to Tom.

Tom's drive to become a plastic surgeon placed an enormous strain on our relationship. Ten years of infertility treatments, miscarriages, and surgeries ended up being more than our marriage could bear, and we were soon on the road to divorce. Soon thereafter came Tom's death sentence diagnosis. Soon thereafter came Tom's death sentence, who knew years later I'd get a breast cancer diagnosis, you can't make this ##* T up!

My desire, intention, and purpose in telling my story is simply to give hope to people who may, too, be struggling with their own "beast." In all difficult circumstances, my truth is to show how love and God will guide us through many challenging situations, teaching us to live by faith, one day at a time, one breath at a time. Faith, hope, and love are the ingredients with which we fought our "beast."