135 Linda Atwell

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Author, Linda Atwell and Husband John

Linda, the mother of a daughter with special needs, walked the 500 mile Camino de Santiago. She realized that it’s about the journey, not the destination. The experience taught Linda to leave her burdens behind and she began to feel more at peace. She shares these powerful nuggets of wisdom:

– turn around and see how far you’ve come
– let go
– some things are outside of our control
– take one day at a time
– you don’t have to solve everything now
– decide not to give up
– pause and take a look behind you
– every step towards a goal is a step in the right direction

Linda Atwell lives in Silverton, Oregon with her husband, John. They have two incredible adult children. Linda earned her BA from George Fox College, but it is her entrepreneurial and adventuresome spirits that have inspired her career goals. She owned a successful home décor business for ten years before switching to adjusting catastrophe insurance claims and climbing roofs for a living. Now she writes. Her award-winning work has appeared in print and online magazines. She irregularly writes a blog about her daughter with special needs, travel, and other life adventures. Her first book, Loving Lindsey: Raising a Daughter with Special Needs was released by She Writes Press in September 2017. Linda is happiest traveling the world, and hopes to get fifty stamps in her passport before it expires.

http://lindaatwell.com/

https://www.facebook.com/outoneear/

https://www.instagram.com/linda_atwell_writer/?hl=en

https://www.amazon.com/Loving-Lindsey-Raising-Daughter-Special/dp/1631522809/

Loving Lindsey 3D Cover

tags:  Linda, Atwell, author, writer, blogger, daughter, special, needs, travel, Loving, Lindsey, Raising, Daughter, with, Special, Needs, storiesthatempower.com, stories that empower, empowering stories, empowerment stories, stories of empowerment, stories of empowering others, self empowerment stories, stories empower, inspire, inspiring, inspiration, uplift, uplifting, upliftment, hope, light, Sean

 

134 Michelle Cox

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michelle cox author of mystery historical fiction

When Michelle’s first husband died unexpectedly at the age of 32, she was left caring for a 2 year old son by herself. The experience brought her to her knees. Michelle questioned everything and felt a loss of identity. She dug herself out of that dark place. Michelle shares these powerful nuggets of life wisdom:
– there’s no timeline for grief
– be kind to yourself
– don’t rush through it
– talk through your grief
– you will get through it
– leverage your faith system
– you will love again
– there’s no limit on love
– the hole inside will eventually heal
– read books on grief
– join grief groups

Michelle Cox is the author of the multiple award-winning Henrietta and Inspector Howard series as well as “Novel Notes of Local Lore,” a weekly blog dedicated to Chicago’s forgotten residents.  She suspects she may have once lived in the 1930s and, having yet to discover a handy time machine lying around, has resorted to writing about the era as a way of getting herself back there.  Coincidentally, her books have been praised by Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and many others, so she might be on to something.  Unbeknownst to most, Michelle hoards board games she doesn’t have time to play and is, not surprisingly, addicted to period dramas and big band music.  Also marmalade.

http://michellecoxauthor.com/

tags: Michelle, Cox, author, writer, Henrietta, Inspector, Howard, book, series, Novel, Notes, Local, Lore, blog, Chicago, storiesthatempower.com, stories that empower, empowering stories, empowerment stories, stories of empowerment, stories of empowering others, self empowerment stories, stories empower, inspire, inspiring, inspiration, uplift, uplifting, upliftment, hope, light, Sean

133 Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy

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Growing in a family of 9 children, Cheryl learned that ‘many hands make light work’. Her parents empowered their children, then watched them rise to the occasion. Cheryl shares these powerful nuggets of life wisdom:
– train children, then trust them
– don’t do for children, what they can do for themselves
– the past can live on in memory as a source of strength
– recite comforting prayers/mantra/sayings that calm and energize you
– you are loved and will find love again

Cheryl and her eight siblings grew up with a paintbrush in their hands and a song in their hearts. As soon as they were old enough to wrench a nail out of ancient lumber―so it could be used again―they were put to work renovating old houses in Ames, Iowa. Cheryl’s growing-up years included babysitting for a local family that kept a lion as a pet. A real, adolescent-aged lion. Uncaged. Using a flyswatter to defend herself, she survived the lion, and today is a freelance journalist for The Wall Street Journal as well as the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. The Tribune distributes her articles to hundreds of newspapers and websites around the country, such as The Seattle Times, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Baltimore Sun, and Orlando Sentinel. McCarthy holds an MBA from City University in London and a bachelor’s in journalism from Iowa State University. She lives in Bellingham, Washington.

https://www.cherylstritzelmccarthy.com/

tags: Cheryl, Stritzel, McCarthy, freelance, journalist, author, speaker, Many, Hands, Make, Light, Work, storiesthatempower.com, stories that empower, empowering stories, empowerment stories, stories of empowerment, stories of empowering others, self empowerment stories, stories empower, inspire, inspiring, inspiration, uplift, uplifting, upliftment, hope, light, Sean