A raw and intimate memoir…
Bridget Siljander, a mother, a caregiver to people with disabilities, and a human rights activist tells her story of growing up as the oldest of thirteen children in a family of firm believers as her inner rebellious spirt helps her break strict, reclusive rules of her family’s faith. After becoming a teen mother to a daughter with disabilities, she struggles to make ends meet and feels helpless in the face of poverty and a difficult social system. It is through education that Siljander is able to uplift her life. The feelings of worthlessness she dealt with throughout her childhood and teen years never leave even after giving birth to her daughter. Coping with shame and remorse after being exploited by men for years, she finally finds strength to face her manipulators. Siljander candidly addresses her rebellious teen years of sexual exploits, her addiction to alcohol and cigarettes, and the effect of growing up under her parents’ strict religious upbringing. Never allowed to be a child as she mothered her younger siblings, she works tirelessly for a good life for her daughter. Readers can’t help but get caught up in Siljander’s poignant and ultimately life-changing story. The old pictures of Siljander and her daughter in the book create feelings of an immediate intimacy in readers’ minds. The directory for disabled people at the end of the book is an added bonus. Siljander’s candid and courageous narrative bares a system of social discrimination that constantly fails those with disabilities.