Join me on the journey I took from the brokenness, disparity and pain of chronic illness, addiction, and mental illness to being Well. I utilize telling my story through essays, reflections, poetry, personal journal entries, and original artwork. I have a chronic illness. That's just a fact in my life. Is it ironic that I titled this memoir "Well"? I'll let you be the judge. It isn't ironic to me. What I have discovered is that even in the midst of physical illness what makes you well is not your physical state. All of us are in some sort of physical decay as we pass from this life to the next. What makes me well is the part of me no disease can touch. My soul is in the gentle, protective hands of my creator and no physical condition can touch or change that fact. He is my anchor. He is my rock. He is my well of water springing up into abundant life. What I won't do in this memoir is share gory details about my particular disease. (I will say that my diagnosis is Basal Arterial Migraine and vestibular migraine. All of the information you would ever want to know you can find online.) Alcohol abuse, drug abuse and a suicide attempt became an unwelcome part of my story right in the midst of learning to cope with a chronic illness and depression. My journey to, through and out of this part of my story is what this memoir is about. I am ill, but yet I am well. Those living with chronic illness and those living in chronic pain share many commonalities. So many that together we create a community that can come together in care, support and understanding. My hope is this memoir will help this community.
