PART 1. I'VE WALKED IN YOUR SHOES
Chapter 1. MY PARENTS' DRIVEWAY
I Actually Got Tough Love in the Worst Moment of My Life When All I Wanted Was a Hug
I came home from a new speech therapist when I was about 14. I had a hard session. This new speech therapist was not as nice, and I was stuttering badly. She had me making phone calls that day, but this was my first session with a new therapist. I'd done it before, but it just did not go well. This session was really hard, and I felt her pushing me more than I wanted to. My first therapist had been kind, not very effective at helping my speech, but at least she was nice.
The thing was that my mom picked me up in her car after the appointment, and as we drove home, I'm explaining how it was so bad. I'm crying my eyes out and just feeling so bad. It's one of those moments where you just absolutely hate your stutter. This was the moment I was having.
When we get home, I'm standing in my parents' driveway, tears streaming down my face. My mom is standing there saying I was going to have my stutter for the rest of my life. Then she said my sister had her own things to work on, and stuttering was mine. I actually got tough love in the worst moment of my life when all I wanted was a hug. To be told it would be okay. My own mom did not give me the love that I needed at the lowest point of my life. I remember the exact spot in the driveway where I was standing.
Where I was standing, I started crying out to God for help, saying, why, God, why me? Why do I have to stutter? Why can't I just be normal? At this point, tears are pouring down my face, and I don't know what made me say this at the time. I promised God that if God would help me stop stuttering, I would dedicate the rest of my life to helping people who stutter become fluent.
This was a defining moment in my life. I remember this day as the turning point in my fluency journey.