I had the opportunity to join Pastor Nicole Golden on her podcast Scar Stories. Pastor Nicole is a strong advocate for mental health and shares from her heart about her personal struggles. When she offered space for me to share our family’s journey with PTS I knew it would be a safe place to do so.
You can listen to the interview here. We are discussing hard topics and this discussion does come with a trigger warning around trauma. Before you begin take care of yourself, find a comfortable spot, and settle into my family’s Scar Story: PTS(d).
Follow up from the interview:
PTS vs PTSD terminology
If you are interested in diving deeper into the use of PTS versus PTSD I suggest reading The Recovery Village’s article on the use of these terms.
Our marriage after the military
John and I have had a difficult go of things in our relationship. Cancer, deployments, chronic pain, and PTSD were not part of the “happy ever after” we thought we signed up for.
The extra time we spent together was terrifying at the beginning of the pandemic and stay at home orders. I thought for sure our marriage wouldn’t survive. However, our family has come out stronger as we’ve learned to slow down and be more honest about our feelings and our struggles.
We are learning to navigate the hard as a team, to find strength in community, and to not hide our thoughts (no matter how frightening it is to share) from one another.
I’ve been sharing our marriage after the military journey over at We Are The Mighty. This is us. The ugly parts and the beautiful, the broken bits, and the healing.
- 3 hard truths about what marriage is like after military life
- 4 tips for navigating marriage and military retirement at the same time
- 3 important lessons for navigating marriage after the military (and during quarantine)
Finding Joy: The Year Apart That Made Me A Better Wife
You can purchase a copy of Finding Joy here. If you purchase it through PayPal leave me a note and I will sign it for you. There are only a limited number of books currently available as I am working on a second edition.
What’s to come?
On November 11, 2020, Proud to Be: Writing By American Warriors vol 9 will be available at Southeast Missouri University Press. My essay titled One Tiny Soldier is included in this edition. It is a creative essay that dives into the importance of carrying one another’s suffering. No one person can carry the trauma of war alone, nor should they be expected to.
Be sure to follow Pastor Nicole at www.nicolegolden.org. She has some great things coming and I’m excited to watch her as she shares more of her story!
Thanks for watching and listening friends! I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to. Be sure to leave a comment below.
