MEMOIR INTRODUCTION

Ok I'm not going to post everything that's in the book on FB - bc, then it wouldn't be a book! But I did just finish writing the introduction and wanted to share it with you to see what you thought. BE HONEST - but kind.... :)

introduction

I wanted to tell everyone first and foremost why this book was written. My name is Jessica, and I am no one special, but I do have a story to tell. I am a wife, a daughter, a granddaughter, a friend, and for 22 years, I was a sister. This story is about my brother Addison. Addison was ten years my junior, but despite the age difference we were as close as any two siblings could possibly be. Throughout this book I will describe who Addison was, because he was a wonderful person who I love more than anything. But mostly this book is about Addison’s addiction.
I decided to write this book for two reasons. One reason is that I believe it will be therapeutic for me personally. But more importantly I am writing this in the hopes that this story will help others. I would never want what has happened to my family to ever happen to anyone else, though I know for a fact that it is, even I as sit here typing this sentence.
Many have said, and will say, that what happened to my brother was a tragedy; that it was a waste; so unfortunate; so unfair. But what happened to Addison is not uncommon; it is just uncommon for people to talk about it openly. I am trying to break that chain of silence and shame that so many people carry with them regarding their addictions, or the addiction of a loved one. There are many myths about addiction that hopefully I will be able to replace for you with the facts.
I graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 2002 with two degree’s in Advertising and Marketing. I loved studying these subjects in school, but hated working in these fields in the real world. I moved on to become a personal trainer for the past 6 years, which was a job that I loved. But throughout the ten years since I graduated college, I have always felt like something was missing. Since I was not using the two degrees that my parents shelled out so much money for me to obtain, I knew there was something “important” that I was supposed to be doing, but I could never seem to figure out what that “something” was. I know what it is now. God has shown me first hand what it is. It took the worst event of my entire life for God to reveal it to me, and that important something, I will now reveal to you……