Welcome to The Beaded Survivor! I like to look at life as comprised of many different beads on a necklace strand. There are beautiful beads that bring joy to your life. There are ugly beads that bring sadness. There are deformed beads that must be rid of. There are new beads and old beads and beads that you find along way. There are beads that stick with you for a lifetime and those that come and go quickly. You get the gist.

At the age of 22, my metaphorical beaded necklace was ripped from my neck in an instant, forcing me to acquire a new and horribly ugly bead. I was now a rape victim. My life as I knew it was over. There was no hope, no joy, no security. But, I was alive. I was alive and faced with the reality of having to rebuild my necklace of beads, not knowing where to begin or how I was going to do it. So, I decided to write a book about it. To no surprise, the book is titled “Beads.” It captures the raw detail and emotion throughout my journey from rape victim to rape survivor, including all the beads I found and rediscovered along the way.

And so I give you, The Beaded Survivor.

A special note: I decided to call my blog The Beaded Survivor because it encompasses all the different pieces of my life. I am a rape survivor, and while that is a part of who I am, it does not define who I am. All the other “beads” in my life do. I am excited to share bi-weekly Beaded Survivor posts every other Tuesday and hope everyone checks back in!