I wrote my life story to show others who are abused that despite all the darkness, there is light. If they hold on and persevere, someday, "They will soar on wings like eagles." This book is also my way of honoring the people God sent into my life when I needed them.

My life was intense. Since I'm not one to sugarcoat anything, there are chapters in this book that some may find disturbing. Many of the stories may shock you. Others may make you angry or sad. Whatever the case, although the names have been changed, every word is the truth as I remember it.

Eight of us lived in a three-room cold-water walk-up in an inner city. My father was disabled, but he never took a handout. He was an honorable man who struggled to provide for us. He didn't know about the abuse until I was thirteen.

My mother was addicted to a prescription that contained opium. As a child, I suffered physical, mental, and sexual abuse, starvation, and torture by her hand. With the help of Divine intervention and the ghost of my grandmother, I survived the abuse and ducked Death's scythe ten times.

The chapters in "If Not for The Love of Others" chronicle that journey.