Memoir Excerpt:
“Several years ago I paid a heavy price for my involvement in my daughter’s illness, and I didn’t want to keep losing, one by one, the parts of my own life tapestry I had worked so hard to create. I have had a wonderful and interesting life, and I can say that now, and feel it in my bones, without embarrassment or guilt. My work in this transformative Program has reacquainted me with my own worth and humanity, both of which came seriously into question when this tragedy struck my daughter.
Well, welcome to your second life, Maggie! I guess it’s never too late to learn how to be happy. Jennie Jerome Churchill has shared with us her definition of happiness: ‘Life is not always what one wants it to be, but to make the best of it as it is, is the only way of being happy.’ That sounds like her take on acceptance to me. So how do I make the best of living with a cloud over my head, a cloud that will always be there, even if Angie at last finds recovery? By focusing on gratitude—my recovery is grounded in it.”