Reinventing My Life

On the morning of September 20, 1994, Dorothy Kissell receives a phone call and finds out that her mother has committed suicide. Grieving, she experiences a flashback to witnessing the death of her husband just two years before. There follows devastating pain with the exile by his two adult children at their father's funeral. This was the stepfamily she loved all those twenty-two years, and her loss of her relationship as Nana to the five grandchildren was overwhelming. Staggering from this family loss, she felt abandoned and totally vulnerable as a new widow and orphan in reverse.

Soon after, she was victimized by a clever con man who drained her financially as she reached out to him for comfort. Coupled with her mother's death, she fell into a deep depression, ending in physical and emotional isolation. A second downward slide forced her into a mental hospital for months.

Heightened by tragedy and final triumph, this story chronicles her soul searching, learning to cope, and finally understanding her emotions, helping her to heal. It has been a humbling experience, struggling to overcome tragedy, but she now feels grateful to have found a new beginning by reinventing her world.