Very few of us go through life unscathed. We encounter hardships along the way and think "How will I survive or why did this happen to me?" Colette Aliamo has had her share of feeling broken, immobilized, defeated and hurt. Barely two years old, she is hospitalized for the potential life- threatening virus of polio during the 1950's epidemic. Enduring long separations from her family and frightening surgeries and procedures, she is left with little reserve to provide her emotional stability. Life at home with her family is equally unsettling. With a physically abusive father and an emotionally disturbed mother, Colette finds little solace in her world. Living with deep-rooted insecurities, her fears of being accepted set in quickly during her school years and beyond. Despite her self- loathing, she faces the world hiding behind the mask she has made for herself. Feeling she is living a lie, Colette attempts to find ways to validate her worthiness. After a failed marriage, she questions her self worth and chooses misguided paths to ease her despair. Family betrayals and chronic illnesses threaten to consume her. However, with an unyielding spirit and the help of her loving husband and good friends, she comes to unexpected revelations that allow her to unshackle herself from a predestined emotional breakdown. | Bringing the Inside Out by Cece Gardenia, Paperback | Indigo Chapters