TOWARDS HOME
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...to spare Vela further shocks, she would not be allowed to attend her mother's burial. Of course, the smaller girls stayed at hoome. The cemetery was not too far from their house, so Velma walked, unseen, to the outside of the enclosing fence. She climbed a nearby tree and from that vantage point, she watched the process play out
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About the Book
In an attempt to shield her from further trauma, eight-year -old Velma was expected to stay home with her younger sisters. She could not attend her mother’s burial. The cemetery was not too fa r from their home so she walked, unseen, to the site and climbed a tree at the perimeter. From that vantage point, she watched the process play out. What did she think suspended there between heaven and earth as those soft little fingers held on to that rough bark. Being a less than perfect child, myself, I imagine she made so pretty tall promises to God. In a candid and sometimes raw chronicling of her coming-of-age journey as her mother struggled with mental illness, Riggs intertwines scripture with her mother’s experiences and her own as both learned lessons while facing a variety of challenges. Her stories detail her relationships with her sisters, her mother’s steadfast faith in God as she faced multiple hospitalizations, her first love as they searched to find their place within a chaotic world, and her ultimate acceptance of her mother and all her beautiful imperfections as she valiantly struggled to attain mental wellness until the day she died. Towards Home is a daughter’s story of her journey through childhood and womanhood as she and her family relied on their faith to support her mother’s struggles with mental illness.
About the Author
Joy Graham Riggs lives in a small town in East Texas. Since the recent death of her husband of fifty-four years, she has heeded the words of Socrates, “The unexamined life is not worth living”. She attempts to share some of her insight into mental illness through her life experiences and her career as an occupational therapist. In a world that, currently, seems to be rampant with mental illness and hate, faith is her weapon of choice.