A Stroke At Midnight: Poems for the Journey from Trauma to Healing

After experiencing a stroke at the young age of 47, this book is my healing journey. On this journey, I quickly learned that in order to heal my body, I had to heal my heart, mind and soul. I call it my full body healing. This journey cost me a lot: family, friends, significant others. I was broken down to my most vulnerable parts so I had to restart the journey of life to repair and rebuild from the beginning. This journey was mine and mine alone. Though I had the support of my core people, I had to redefine loneliness and realized I was just alone. I had to be honest with myself about every aspect of who I was in order to become the person Im supposed to be. I let the trauma be a catalyst for the new life with the new me. This included physical healing, like physical and occupational therapy, but also emotional healing with mental health therapists, and spiritual healing by directly talking to God and learning how to hear his voice. Healing is a lifelong journey. But as Im re-emerging, I realize that everything I need, I already have, including the relationships that helped me through it all. This book is a part of my never-ending journey to heal. Your healing journey will look different, but I hope you will find this book encouraging and motivation to start your own journey.