What is "Discovering Her Voice"?

I was born and raised in Idaho and went to school in the small town of Kuna, Idaho. There were only 115 students in my graduating class.
Everyone knew each other. When you live in a small town like that people tend to think they know everything about you. It is amazing how much a smile and happy attitude can hide.
As a teenager I thought everyone had gaps in their memory when it came to their childhood. It always amazed me when my friends brought up memories from when they were very young. I couldn't remember anything before the age of 10.
Another thing that surprised me was to discover very few of my friends had a strong intuition like I did. Some would say it was the Holy Spirit, God, Angels or some type of Devine intervention. I referred to it as a "gut feeling" and needed to pay attention to it. Following that feeling always led me in the right direction.
I was fortunate that for several years I could not remember the trauma and abuse I endured. Some women live with it every single day but I was blessed to have the ability to forget, if not for just a little bit. I am part of the 'Me Too Movement'. I had a family member and boyfriend who abused me.
As horrible as those events were, they did not break me. I became a stronger person in spite of them. I took what I experienced and have turned it into a positive.
As a Speech Language Pathologist, I have helped over 900 children find their voices. While working with them, the memories that I suppressed came rushing back to me. Over the years, several students have shared the trauma they exprenced with me. I provided a safe place for them to vocalize what had happened to them. With the support of the schools I worked in and Social Services I was able to take my experiences and find a way to help them.
Writing was never something I desired to do, it became something that had to be done. My story came to me as if engulfing me by a wave. There wasn't anything I could do to stop it. My story needed to be told.
I hope my writing is encouraging to others and provides inspiration. I have been told I am amazingly direct and refreshingly honest in this book. Enjoy "Discovering Her Voice" as you read my emergence into who I have become.
34James Michael Varner, Nancy Baalhorn Sobers and 32 others
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