by debwfrank | Jan 7, 2019 | childhood trauma, dysfunctional families, grief, widow
photo by Benjamin Davies, courtesy of Upsplash I dreamed about the two worst traumas of my life last night. They were separate dreams, though both were in present time. In one, I’m talking to a classmate from Vermont College who was widowed earlier this year. In the...
by debwfrank | Dec 20, 2018 | cancer, dysfunctional families, grief, loss, trauma
Photo by Everton Vila on Unsplash Yesterday I learned that my brother-in-law died. Keith was a heavy Facebook user who suddenly went quiet, so a neighbor checked on him and discovered he’d passed away in his sleep—at 65. Since he was living in Ecuador, I hadn’t seen...
by debwfrank | Dec 12, 2018 | books, child neglect, childhood trauma, dysfunctional families
I read a crazy number of books, but Where the Crawdads Sing will go down as one of my favorites—I didn’t want it to end, it was such pure joy to read. There’s lots to love about this book, but most compelling for me, was that I felt a strong connection to Kya, the...
by debwfrank | Aug 23, 2018 | dysfunctional families
Photo by Victoria Rodriguez on Unsplash My sister is turning 60 today, if she’s still alive. Either way, she’s beyond my reach. Even in these days of Internet access to anyone, anywhere. The last time I spoke to her, I was about 30, so she would have been 33 or 34. I...
by debwfrank | Mar 9, 2018 | dysfunctional families
Bob and I went to see HIR last night at Salt Lake Acting Company with friends David and Amy. It was outstanding as their plays always are, but painful to watch. For the uninitiated, it’s about a messed-up family—but not in a way you’ve ever seen before. Dad has become...
by debwfrank | Jan 30, 2018 | child abuse, dysfunctional families, trauma
I never realized that my crappy childhood might kill me off early. But then I went to see James Redford’s Resilience tonight. It’s a documentary about childhood trauma, how it damages health in adulthood—and what some communities are doing about it. I hope the...
