Index

Age: 54, Location: California

When were you at your weakest:
I was at my weakest three different times in my life. The first time is when my dad passed away. I had just moved myself and my little daughter in with him, his new wife and their new baby. When he passed away, I lay in bed and cried for months. The second time was when two of my three children turned against me and would not communicate with me for reasons I still don't understand. The thied time was when Michael Jackson died. My mom. my brother me and my daughter were all big fans of his from the very beginning. I bought the Thriller doll for my daughter and the Beat It doll for my brother back in the 1980's. My brother died at 18 years old and my mom died in 2005. I did not cry or morn neither one of them as much as I should have. At the time I was raising my twin sons alone and I had to stay strong. But when Michael Jackson died i cried everyday for a whole year. One day I woke up and said to myself ""I am done crying"" and I was. I think when Michal died I was finally able morn mom, my brother and Michael too.

When were you at your strongest:
I was at my strongest after my dad passed away. I started a trade school and I suddenly realized that the only person I needed to prove anything to was myself. I was raising my daughter as a single parent and only in my early twenties.

How are you feeling now:
I am now alone and i have had to start a new life after ""Empty Nest."" I have my ups and downs but I am trying to be strong each day. It is not easy sometimes because everyone either moved away or died so I feel alone quite a bit. Each day has its challenges and I am learning to tackle one thing at a time. Life is good most of the time. My model is ""Simple is Better."" By going through all my belongings and getting rid of things I really do not need, my load feels much lighter. So keeping it simple like the old folks did has made me a better person and I feel happier too.

Age: 40, Location: Raymond N.H.

When were you at your weakest:
Right now,,have lupus and fibro,and been dealing with a slum landlord,who is now evicting us..

When were you at your strongest:
When i had my youngest son.I didn't make it to the hospital and he was born in my livingroom.

How are you feeling now:
Lonrly,and trying to find a healthy,safe home for my kids and myself,,one we will want to come home to and invite friends to come spend time with us in.

Age: 44, Location: Iowa

When were you at your weakest:
When I realized my family members would not believe that the two men who drugged, beat, and raped me were sheriff's deputies. Because of this, I realized I was alone in my recovery and my fight for justice.

When were you at your strongest:
When I was able to recognize other's ignorance in encouraging me to ""get on with my life"". Being assaulted is not something you get over. Instead it becomes a part of you. Choosing to use that experience as a driving force in my life gave me direction and inner peace.

How are you feeling now:
I may be physically weaker because I have multiple sclerosis but I am the strongest woman you will ever meet.

Age: 35, Location: TEXAS, USA

When were you at your weakest:
At the age of 30... I was on the brink of death physically, mentally & spiritually.No one thought I was going to survive past 30... Years of untreated & misdiagnosed trauma I experienced being raped when I was 16 had taken its toll on my life.I know I wouldn't have survived if it weren't for my soul-mate therapist & EMDR

When were you at your strongest:
Now! Every day I grow stronger!

How are you feeling now:
Fully alive & better than ever!!!

Age: 49, Location: Canada

When were you at your weakest:
As a child!

When were you at your strongest:
In my 20's.

How are you feeling now:
Better, but still the same feelings at times of insecurity, work is a great outlet and outside interests.Crimes against children (girls,boys too women) should be taken more seriously! It affects you for the rest of your life!

Age: 27, Location: Virginia

When were you at your weakest:
The spring/summer of 2003 after the father of my oldest child and then fiance dumped me back on my mothers door step with our 7/8 month old baby. I had been diagnosed with Bipolar DO shortly after her birth and then he took a job in another city and forced me to move there two hours away from everything I knew. Needless to say I didnt cope well couldnt get stabilized and he wasnt supportive at all. Not to mention we were very young...I was 18 and he was 20. So he got tired of me being ""crazy"" and dumped me and our daughter on my moms doorstep. From there I just fell apart in every way. My bipolar symptoms were out of control I was manic and rebellious and suicidal all at the same time. I wanted to go out and stay out all night couldnt focus on taking care of the baby etc. So I gave custody of her to his parents and proceeded to be wild and crazy. Met ppl I had no real business hanging out with bounced from guy to guy etc. Looking back Im REALLY lucky I didnt get hurt or even killed from some of the stupid stuff I did. I also had a strong addiction to cutting.

When were you at your strongest:
When I finally started getting my life back together. I went to nursing school in 2004 graduated with my LPN in 2005. That was the first major step in a LONG journey back to a stable sane life. I also faced up to my mental health issues (I was in denial for the longest time) got help meds etc. It was still an uphill battle and one I face every day.

How are you feeling now:
Today 9/13/11 I have to say Im feeling the best I think I have ever felt. I have a great supportive husband who has stuck by me through many trials and tribulations. In 2009 I gave birth to another beautiful baby girl and also got shared custody of my oldest daughter with her father. I still struggled with mood swings until very recently I sought out a new psychiatrist who right away put me on a med combo that has made me feel ALIVE. Im more motivated happy able to deal with stress etc. So now the next step in my journey is to start counseling for the sexual abuse I endured as a child which led to PTSD. Im scared but hopeful at the same time :)

Age: 45, Location: Bromley, Kent, UK

When were you at your weakest:
It was autumn 1986. The love of my life dumped me, suddenly and without explanation. With him went my friends (because they were also his, and he was a charismatic sort of person, so they stuck with him and cut me out), my job (because I worked with him, and them, so I really couldn't stay there), and, since I lived in the hospital where we both worked, that meant I also lost my accommodation. So I had no income, nowhere to live, no friends locally (I had moved to London for the job), and worst of all the person I loved did not want me any more, and would not even speak to me. As if that wasn't enough, I then found out he had met someone else and was marrying them within weeks. I was in the deepest depression. I just remember crying, sobbing, all the time. My face was red raw from the tears, and I went around on autopilot, crying on the tube and in the street, and not even caring that people saw me, looked away, avoided me. I hardly ever slept, and when I did I would wake up suddenly after less than an hour, shaking and crying and unable to stop obsessing about what had happened. I don't, fortunately, remember much of that period in detail. It was an indescribably bleak and grey time, and it was months before I could pull myself together enough to do anything to move on from the the situation. I thought about suicide constantly. At one stage, I swallowed more than 30 paracetomol tablets washed down with vodka, but for some reason, woke up the next day as usual with no ill effects. I'm still not sure how or why. Eventually I forced myself to take action, and got myself onto a degree course. A friend from up north moved to London, so I moved in with him. It was still a long, long road back from severe depression, but I did it without drugs or counselling or anything else, because I wanted to be able to look back and know that I did it myself, without those things as props. Others would probably say that was wrong, but it was right for me, and it worked. But I had about a year of being utterly dysfunctional, and few more years after that when I know I was far from normal. I've never felt weaker.

When were you at your strongest:
I think I'm at my strongest now. My strength is cumulative and comes from life experience and the self-knowledge it's given me. Because of the experience related above, and others since, I've been through a lot of change, variously painful, gruelling, unfair, and usually externally inflicted, especially in my working life. I work in the public sector, which means constant change programmes and very little job or salary security. I've learned to ride the waves and be something of an opportunistic problem-solver. Many times, I've had to be creative and bring my intelligence to bear on the situation in order to survive and thrive. Which I've done. And as I've got older, I've felt stronger and stronger. I've learned and benefited from the situations I've been in, and I've acquired a little cunning and political astuteness, although those aren't natural for me. I feel pretty unassailable nowadays when I'm up against it. Another major change programme looms, with possible redundancy and tons of change management work to get through, yet I feel more than equal to the tasks ahead. I actually feel like I could cope with this latest wave of stupid and irrational government decisions standing on my head. I can handle anything.

How are you feeling now:
Good. I feel good. Maybe I'm a little addicted to adrenalin and living in the midst of chaos and uncertainty! I feel that at 45, I'm at the height of my powers. (Being a woman does entail having powers, you know!). I can sort out any problem, read any person I encounter, trust my instincts on anything, and do all the things I want to do with my life. I don't have to rely on anyone else or get anyone's permission. And I have good friends who believe in me.

Age: 45, Location: France

When were you at your weakest:
When I left the man that I loved because he drank too much and I understand that I could not build my life with him. I left hipm but I didn't know any more what I go to do. My heart was broken...

When were you at your strongest:
When I had a breast cancer and I wanted to survive for my children.

How are you feeling now:
Now I'm not very happy because futur frightens me. I have two children and I am afraid of not being a good mother. I'm married but I'm not in love... I wait for something lighter. I feel as a prisoner which waits for its liberation. I don't think I'm very strongest... but I try.

Age: 47, Location: France

When were you at your weakest:
When my ex-husband left me with two small children, 2 and 4 years old, with no work ( I had quit my job in order to raise my children, it was a joint decision), without money (he's gone with all my savings), and in a new place (we had just moved and I didn't know anyone to help me). He tried everything to destroy me...to the point of trying to take my children.

When were you at your strongest:
I was lost, psychologically destroyed, without hope and without immediate future, so I returned to live at my parent's with my children. I rebuilt myself day after day, slowly, in the love of my children, I devoted all my time to them during those dark years, I lived through them and I plunged in their childhood to forget all this painful situation and to regain strenght.

How are you feeling now:
I overcame these ordeals and now I feel free, strong, independent, alive, like never before ready for a new life full of projects.