The Raw Story of Being Made of Steel

By Dr. Deanna Jordan

“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places” (Hemingway, 1999, p. 249).

A friend once asked, “Are you sure you want to share that much of yourself with your readers?” I paused. I remembered all of the times that I masked my humble beginnings and added a gentile spin to my responses when asked about my childhood. “Hell, yes.”

In a world of tell-all social media and a half-century of feeling that I had to catch up to learn the things that many mastered in their early years, my story-telling will always be raw because raw is real.

I share my broken and healed history today because experience often forges steel and helpers build a better tomorrow. I share the story of my childhood where a dangerous slag dump provided me refuge to escape my father’s drunken rages and relief from the angry venom he spewed into the air like a poison that continued to seep into its victims long after the words were spoken. I share my raw story because I know now that everyone has childhood bruises in need of mending and moments when the broken parts of us must grow strong.