Return with me to my very first press book review in the Corvallis Advocate in the Spring of 2012… I didn’t know what to think, but it all worked out just fine…
Please order my book to help me fund my next memoir, “Finding My Soul in Icicle Valley” I couldn’t have written my 1st book without you!
Steve
http://www.corvallisadvocate.com/2012/reconciliation-a-sons-story/ Quote from this website and article…
“The book is about the lingering ramifications of his father’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—what the author deems “collateral damage.” The trauma of war was passed down to the second generation—to a son so angry with his father that he didn’t attend his funeral—and even a third generation, as for many years the author passed his own anger and anxiety on to his children. The book is an attempt at catharsis, at coming to terms with that legacy. In this regard, the book succeeds.”
Revisiting the painful past of my own childhood, researching a new awareness of the generational damage of moral injury, and eventually publishing my book, was a highly emotional experience of coming to terms with long standing anger. I had no idea that my family’s story and this blog would help countless others to seek a path of healing through awareness of one family’s 70 year struggle with the effects of PTSD. It is now very clear to me that returning to my childhood and confronting the life-long pain of living in a dysfunctional home, was the key to removing the anger in my heart that persisted for most of my life until age 64. Book reviews such as written in the above link, and others found on my author page, proves the value of awareness as the first step toward healing.
I am so convinced of the value of awareness in healing that my blog is updated almost daily with postings that are relevant to self discovery and effects of moral injury and PTSD. The magnitude and severity of the invisible pain caused from exposure to severe trauma in war as a combat veteran, a 1st responder, and even a private citizen subject to a terrible traumatic event is overwhelming. What is far worse in this circumstance is what happens to children who live with a parent or loved one who suffers from the symptoms of PTSD. As written in my book, the symptoms of PTSD “stick around like bad genes’ if the cycle of pain is not broken. The cycle can only be broken if families and society as a whole become highly aware, sensitive, and vigilant. My family did not have the opportunity to know of our own troublesome and toxic family culture’s lasting effects until many years after the experience when the damage was virtually irreparable for all of us.
Although it has been challenging for my family, it is never too late to begin the journey of healing. Buy my book for yourself or a loved one as a gift. Other similar books about moral injury and PTSD along with references and resources are listed and can be purchased on my blog. Healing is a work in progress. No time is wasted in getting started right now… Click on my book cover on this website and download to your desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone and order a hard copy.
Steve Sparks
