In part two of Healing That Lasts, Ann talks about how she overcame the abuse of her past to create an environment and culture of healing.

As a child her mother beat her with anything she could find, a wooden spoon she says packed a hefty punch and pieces of plywood from her Dad’s workshop often splintered on her body.

The physical abuse left bruises and scars on her skin, and harsh words burrowed into her heart leaving her breathless with the agony of rejection; and then, sexual abuse stripped her of her innocence and made her afraid of every dark corner, in what should have been the safety of her room.

Even though loneliness made her question having life, she was able to find peace.

In today’s episode, part two of ‘Healing That Lasts’.

Ann often shares that, even as a child, she loved organizing things. No, she wasn’t a tidy child by nature; she says her room almost always had that cluttered desk look. Rather, it was her desire to make sense of the world around her, to understand why we're here, and how people fit together. She was always trying to produce an organizational structure that would enable something in life to work better.

In later years, Ann adopted the illustration of each life resembling a 100 piece puzzle. Sometimes each piece fits. Sometimes a piece gets rough around the edges, wrinkled or just out and out stops fitting. Sometimes, a group of pieces will erupt. Careful, love-filled steps need to be taken then.

Read more at www.AnnDonnelly.ca