I’m addressing something today that is difficult to discuss. It’s the elephant in the room I’ve been trying to avoid. I will keep this short.

When I set out to write this book, my intention was to tell my story; the good, the bad, and the ugly. I needed to share all aspects of my life to do this properly. Like most of you, I wear many hats. I am a wife. I am a mother. I am an advocate for my autistic son. I am a greenhouse manager. I am a Christian woman without a church home. I am one of the millions of people who live with depression. I was a sister. I am a daughter. In 28 essays, I let the reader see me in every one of these roles. One essay is about my parents. 

It’s probably no secret that my parents and I do not get along. All three of us share some of the blame here. I did not consult with them for this essay. I wrote about my observations and my experiences as their daughter. This essay was among the more difficult ones to write. My goal was to be honest without being brutal. I wrestled with what parts of the story to include and what to leave out. I censored myself a lot in the beginning so as not to upset them. But it became clear that they would find offense with the chapter no matter how careful I was. So I decided to stay true to my goal. Needless to say, my parents are unhappy with parts of the essay I’ve recently disclosed to them.

There are 27 other essays in this book. It pains me that the beauty of my story is being dismissed because of the inclusion of that 28th essay. I could have left it out. But the unfortunate truth is that family conflict is an important part of my story. Not talking about it does a disservice to myself and anyone else that’s had a similar experience. I hope that the majority of my readers will accept this book as a whole and believe that I had no malicious intent while writing it.