Posted by Anne Caroline Drake on February 14, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Happy V-Day, dear readers and subscribers! Wow! It is hard to believe this all started just three years ago today. You all have changed and expanded my life dramatically. Thank you! Bless you! It is hard to imagine my life without the friendships and professional connections we have created, nurtured, and sustained. … Read more
Filed under Journey to Joy (J2J) · Tagged with abuse recovery, artist's date, Bitzie, child abuse, Complex-PTSD, dating abuse, domestic violence, emotional abuse, emPOWERment, Facebook Favorites, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, self-care, sexual abuse, spiritual retreats, survivor stories, V-Day, Violence and Abuse
Posted by Anne Caroline Drake on February 7, 2012 · 2 Comments
Filed under Book Review · Tagged with activist, books, Charles Dickens, child abuse, Christmas Carol, Dickens 2012, Dickens Bicentenary, emPOWERment, Gad's Hill Place, Google's Dickens Doodle, Morgan Library, Old Curiosity Shop, Oliver Twist, Pickwick Papers, survivor stories, Tale of Two Cities, The Raven
Posted by Anne Caroline Drake on November 11, 2011 · 1 Comment
Tonight I’m celebrating my 400th post with Bitzie curled up next to me and wearing her purple. We are celebrating the veteran survivors of wars fought with the terrorists in our own homes. In October, I wrote 31 survivor stories and invited everyone to wear purple to express their commitment to end domestic … Read more
Filed under Journey to Joy (J2J) · Tagged with abuse of power, abuse recovery, activist, artist's date, child abuse, domestic violence, Dress to Express, emPOWERment, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Pacific Northwest, photography, photos, pit bull abusers, Safe at Home, self-care, survivor stories
Posted by Anne Caroline Drake on November 1, 2011 · 1 Comment
I am investing in people. – Doris Buffett What would you do if someone dropped hundreds of millions of dollars into your lap? If you are like Doris Eleanor Buffett, you will give it all away. During a dinner party at her younger brother Warren E. Buffett’s home, Bono suggested she write the story of … Read more
Filed under Life Rafts · Tagged with abuse recovery, activist, bipolar disorder, Book Review, books, Buffett Rule, child abuse, Depression, domestic violence, Doris Buffett, emotional abuse, emPOWERment, Giving It All Away, Jennifer Buffett, malignant narcissist, Michael Zitz, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, NoVo Foundation, Peter Buffett, Philanthropy, survivor stories, Warren E. Buffett
A woman must have money and a room of her own. -Virginia Woolf, 1929 Why do women stay in violent relationships? Money. The gilded cage traps birds of all feathers. Children who experience abuse and incest are trapped in that cage. The life of a teenage run-away is dangerous. Women with children often are trapped in … Read more
Filed under Life Rafts · Tagged with A Room of One's Own, books, Depression, domestic violence, emPOWERment, feminist, incest, literature, Monk's House, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, pit bull abusers, sexual abuse, survivor stories, survivors of incest, Virginia Woolf, women's suffrage
Posted by Anne Caroline Drake on October 29, 2011 · 3 Comments
Christine McFadden, DVM It was just to destroy me. – Dr. Christine McFadden She went out for a morning walk with her best friend, Amy Velasquez, and came home to find all four of her children brutally murdered. How do you recover from this devastating loss? Dr. Christine McFadden is a veterinarian in Merced, CA. She founded the thriving Valley … Read more
Filed under Life Rafts · Tagged with abuse recovery, child abuse, Dr. Christine McFadden, emotional abuse, emPOWERment, gun violence, Merced CA, MSSM Foundation, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Oprah, pit bull abusers, self-care, survivor stories, Therapy, Valley Animal Hospital
If the mothers ruled the world, there would be no goddamn wars in the first place! – Sally Field Sally Field seems to perpetually be one of the first celebrities who shows up to prevent domestic violence. She doesn’t, however, say much about her own experiences. She was one of 100 celebrities in … Read more
Filed under Life Rafts, Uncategorized · Tagged with abuse recovery, activist, child abuse, domestic violence, emotional abuse, emPOWERment, Eve Ensler, Good Housekeeping, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Jane Fonda, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Oprah, Sally Field, survivor stories, V-Day, Vital Voices
I’m friendly, I’m outgoing, and I like men. – Virginia Clinton Kelley First Mother Virginia Dell Cassidy Blythe Clinton Dwire Kelley bubbled with life. She survived child abuse and domestic violence, but she did not survive breast cancer. She passed away on January 6, 1994. Over 3,000 people attended her funeral, and she was buried on Elvis’ … Read more
Filed under Life Rafts · Tagged with Barbra Streisand, Bill Clinton, Book Review, books, child abuse, domestic violence, emPOWERment, James Morgan, Leading with My Heart, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, survivor stories, Violence Against Women Act, Virginia Kelley
I have known what it is to live a lie ~ to want so badly to keep a relationship that I made myself invisible. . . I would like to spare the pain of every woman who fears that she can have love only if she erases her needs and makes herself small. – Robin … Read more
Filed under Life Rafts, Uncategorized · Tagged with abuse recovery, Book Review, books, domestic violence, emotional abuse, emPOWERment, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Oprah, Robin L. Smith, self-care, survivor stories, Therapy
Posted by Anne Caroline Drake on October 25, 2011 · 1 Comment
You can recognize enlightenment because it always tastes of freedom. – Martha Nibley Beck, Ph.D. Martha Nibley Beck, Ph.D. is a frequent Oprah contributor and has written several books. Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith is a memoir about the ritualistic sexual abuse she experienced at the hands of her … Read more
Filed under Life Rafts · Tagged with abuse of power, abuse recovery, Book Review, books, child abuse, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Depression, emotional abuse, emPOWERment, faith-based response to DV, Hugh Nibley, Joseph Smith, Leaving the Saints, Martha Beck, Mormon, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, New York Times, Oprah, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, psychic numbing, PTSD, sexual abuse, survivor stories, Virginia Woolf
