This is the first book in the chronological order of the life of the author. Experience with her the family mysteries and turmoil. Be transported in time as Leite reveals what life was like growing up in rural America, caught between the "haves and the have nots" during the 1940s. Feel with her what daily life was then, the hardships to the simplicity, and contrast it to life today. Most readers will envision someone they know in her captivating story. The author's stated purpose for writing her life experiences is to shed the light of reason on addiction and mental illness. Evelyn Leite has been in the addiction and mental health profession for 35 years and has a private practice, Living With Solutions. She also founded a non-profit corporation, A Center For Training And Restoration. She is an author and she holds workshops nation wide which are devoted to teaching individuals and families about mental health and addiction, much of her work is trauma related with men and women who have been abused . Because her work as a humanitarian has been widely recognized she was installed in the SD Hall of Fame in 2008. Her work has included founding a youth center in Ft Pierre, SD, helping establish a women's shelter in Pierre, SD, and helping to establish the Hope Center , a day shelter for the homeless in Rapid City, SD. Currently she is finishing a 4th memoir. Much of her work is a personal story of family abuse that asks a key question: How does a loving father turn into an alcoholic verbal abuser? And why am I just like him? Addiction, pain, and healing are outlined in a manner that will be more than familiar to those raised under similar conditions; but the difference in these memoirs lie in the focus on how Evelyn Leite chooses to survive her circumstances and rise above them. Her evolving perception of both of her parents is one of the highlights presented as Leite grows older: "I just look at them, my parents, so far removed from the reality of my life, so unaware of the aching, agonizing, humiliating pain I live with...so unbelievably ignorant."
