I have walked through friendship breakups and family estrangement. I have faced the ache of becoming an empty nester, the kind of transition no one really prepares you for. I am currently moving to a new city, starting over at 44, and building a new career while it seemed like everyone else was coasting through midlife with ease.
Behind the scenes, there was brain fog. Hormones. Forgetfulness. Emotional overwhelm. Words I could not find when I needed them most.
And there was silence.
So much silence.
The kind of silence that comes when you do not know what to call what you are feeling. The kind that happens when you have been the strong one for so long, even you forget you are allowed to fall apart. The kind that grows louder the more you try to push it down.
I woke up one day feeling lost and confused in a life I had worked hard to build. Nothing on the outside looked completely broken, but something inside me felt deeply out of place.
Over the last 18 months, I went back to school to study faith, science, and the relationship between the two. I began learning neuroscience so I could better understand the patterns I had been struggling with for more than a decade. I wanted language for what I had lived through. I wanted understanding, not just for myself, but for the people I knew were quietly walking through the same kind of pain.
Five years ago, after my separation from my husband, I started writing what would eventually become Silent to Spoken. At the time, I did not have the language, tools, or understanding to name what was happening inside me. I was hurting, confused, and trying to survive emotions I did not yet know how to process. In many ways, I blew up my whole life trying to find my way back to myself.
After a lot of work, prayer, tears, and healing, my husband and I found our way back to each other. Not perfectly. Not magically. Honestly. We became best friends again.
For years, fear held me back. Even in retirement, even with time and space in front of me, I still questioned whether I was allowed to begin again.
Not anymore.
I finally finished my book, Silent to Spoken, coming October 6, 2026. If I can start again, find my voice again, rebuild again, and speak again, I believe you can too.
I do not have all the answers, and I will never pretend that I do. But I know what it feels like to walk through the silence without a road map. I know what it feels like to need language, support, and someone willing to sit beside you while you take the next right step.
You do not have to know exactly what to say. You only have to be willing to take the first step.
I am going first.
Do not quit in the quiet.
