Since earning my dual bachelor and master's degrees in health sciences - public health. I wrote and published my memoir, The Hands That Held Me, to bring light to the lifelong effects of severe and/or prolonged exposure to childhood trauma in the formative years, and how it sets the stage for future struggles in every aspect of life - mental, physical, psycho-social, spiritual, and emotional. Cbildhood traumas, like those I myself experienced are linked to chronic and terminal illnesses and 7 out of 10 of the leading causes of death, such as hypertension, heart disease, COPD, Diabetes, and several types of cancers. Many with mental health disorders claim to have experienced severe trauma during childhood. It is also linked with a delayed response of addiction and overdose, as well as suicidal ideation, and has been proven to cause an overall average of a 20 year reduction in life expectency. The Hands That Held Me has helped many addicts and survivors of various types of childhood trauma to process their pain and come to terms with their past, helping to free addicts from the burden of their chains to addiction, and my hope is that by sharing my story, it continues to help others and that they know, they are not alone, and they do have the power within themselves to rise up out of the hell that surrounds and threatens to defeat them and possibly take their lives. Rhyming Reflections is a daily devotional and personal journal with beautiful, full premium color pages in a tranquil design to match its cover. It is filled with poems that rhyme (I am no William Shakespeare by any means, have never even learned anything about poetry, but I can throw a rhyme together). Some have a dark theme to them because often when life events such as the loss of a loved one, a break-up or divorce, facing your own end-of-life, or any other major life event - can cause us to go into a period of reflection, and often times it involves negative events or regrets. Despite a dark beginning, the poems within this book end on an inspirational note because the book is meant as a hug to the reader as they make amends with the past, come to terms with the present, and ready themselves to thrive in their future. Delete Edit