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Prologue
a Journey of the Heart
This Journal is a love story. Actually, many love stories.
They tell the history of the Nurturing Network.
These are not the kind of love stories that will make their way onto the glossy pages of a Hallmark card or romance novel. They are the down-to-earth tales of ordinary people with extraordinary challenges.
Each of the leading characters is faced with a difficult choice that cannot wait for a better time or more comfortable circumstances. Each person’s thoughts are riveted to the necessity of making an urgent decision. And, until they do, they will reside in a crucible of ultimate proportions.
In these pages, you will find that there is nothing light-hearted or frivolous about any of these stories. There are 25,000 more, equally moving anecdotes in the Client files of the Nurturing Network. I only wish that the limits of time and space would allow them all to be shared too.
Each story reveals a similar, inescapable gravitas born of the fact that whatever choices are made, lasting, life-altering consequence will result. An inescapable urgency and finality contribute to the passion that runs through each of these stories. The anatomy of the dramas take on a familiar form:
There is the initial discovery. Followed in a split second by shock. This wasn’t supposed to happen to me! Denial moves in to cushion the blow. Then mind-numbing fear settles in. Panic takes over. Frantic thoughts consider a quick fix. That option is Dismissed.
There are many reasons.
The last vestiges of figuring an easy way out dissolve. Unbridled fear creeps back in. Self doubt takes over. What reason is there for courage or personal sacrifice when no one is showing that to me?
Trust is shattered and abject loneliness crowds out rational thought.
A stark realization sets in:
No matter what choice is made,
life will be forever changed.
This is the precise moment when we meet the women appropriately referred to as the Nurturing Network’s “maternal profiles in courage.” It is a singular honor to be invited into any person’s life when hope is wavering, faith is obscured, and love is battered. These are the most intimate and cherished of invitations that have captivated my heart and mind for over thirty years.
There is nothing weak or inept about a woman who turns to someone for help at the most vulnerable time in her life. There is also nothing magic or clever about the first conversation that takes place with each person in this predicament.
Each woman in crisis yearns to be reminded of truths that she once knew but now desperately needs to have refreshed
if she is to find her way to a better day:
You are not alone. A positive outcome is not too much to ask. You have more power than you may realize to shape your own story.
When these simple messages begin to be heard, the weeping starts to subside. Accusations become less topical. Self pity loses its footing. Shame is relegated to its proper place on the wasteland of guilt.
An unmistakable calm comes over the conversation. The pace slows even as the tone takes on a palpable energy and excitement. Hope begins to take root.
There is room for forgiveness. Even laughter. Options begin to be heard. Rationality returns. Problem-solving makes its way onto center stage. A helpless victim is breaking out of a self-imposed prison that has been in the making for many years. Real resources are being considered and accepted as gifts. Empowering choices are being made.
Tears well up, again. But this time — with gratitude.