We all have small secrets. Shenandoah Chefalo had a big painful secret, that she only shared with her husband… after the wedding. Her new book, Garbage Bag Suitcase, tells the world her childhood story of being neglected and abused by a drug addicted mother and choosing to be placed into the foster care system at 13. Now, a highly respected and successful professional woman living in a small midwestern town, nobody would ever guess her painful story.
This is not an easier story to hear. Shen is an amazing woman of such inner strength, that somehow she has managed to become a miracle of the foster care system and a survivor of neglectful and abusive parenting. She speaks very directly to us, matter of factly, instructing us to ask ourselves “What happened to that person?” instead of “What’s WRONG with that person?”. What “happened” to Shenandoah could have been any of us. How would you have fared in such a story? Most would become addicts, drop out of school, ending up in prison. But not Shenandoah.
Read Mary’s Review of the book
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