Podcast By Crystal Andrus Morissette

During this call, Crystal chats with Alicia. Despite a brutal upbringing that included extreme emotional and sexual abuse, an abortion at 11 years old, kidnapping, and more recently being diagnosed with breast cancer and receiving a double mastectomy, Alicia has defied the odds. Not only is she a strong, successful woman completing her Empowerment Coach certification at the S.W.A.T. Institute, she is also a phenomenal mother. Her son has completed his master’s degree and is in the midst of getting his Ph.D. Though she’s done her best to persevere, to move forward, and above all, to be strong, she can’t help the anger and hurt she harbors, and the feelings of uncertainty about the future. Selma also joined the call. For the last few decades of her life, Selma has tried her best to protect her children and to give the appearance of a perfect family. Though on the inside, she felt like she was drowning in dysfunction. In some ways, Selma feels as though she married someone who treated her just like her mother.