Teresa Clark - Life Happens: How to Maintain Family Strength and Unity in the Face of Adversity

Life Happens caused me to stop and examine my beliefs. Rarely have I met up with someone who so succinctly offers insights into my deepest concerns and helps me see where I sorely lack. But without a guide, mentoring or modeling, people dont have a clue that they have options to act differently. I probably own and have read over 2500 books as Ive considered how others interpret the world. Perhaps I had to live this much of life to recognize how valuable your information is. Your book provides tools that can be keenly and deftly employed to keep my family strong. Thank you, thank you.

Janet Favero Chambers President and Founder: National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Association

Life happens, doesnt it? And struggle enters into every life, sometimes nearly overwhelming in its magnitude and intensity. In this insightful and thought-provoking book, Teresa and Taralyn Clark provide us with powerful tools to face personal and family adversity with courage, humor, and grace through story . If you are a member of a familyor a member of the human familythis book is for you: a roadmap to lead you safely (if not unscathed) through the hazards of life.

Sherry Norfolk Former Chair: National Storytelling Network, Storyteller, Author, award-winning Teaching Artist

When faced with adversity and hardship, the first feelings are often that of loneliness and despair. In their book, Life Happens: How to Maintain Family Strength and Unity in the Face of Adversity , Teresa and Taralyn share many heartwarming experiences of their own family and those of others that reinforce the powerful message of hope. I highly recommend this book because it teaches families, who have or who will face difficult circumstances, that humor, love, touch, and time spent together will triumph over feelings of discouragement and isolation. The result is that families can be fortified through adversity instead of being pulled apart.

Jared R. Knight Manager of Programs: Aspen Grove Family Camp, Brigham Young University, Author: 101 Games and Activities to Strengthen Families

Life Happens ... is one of those rare books giving us glimpses into the stories of several families persisting and thriving through lifes challenges. The book is filled with sweet moments, love, and laughter. It speaks to the heart, soul, and spirit of family as they deal with heartbreaks and find their way through them all. Drawing on faith, courage, love, blessings, and purposeful story sharing they keep going, finding wisdom and inspiration along the way. It is a testament to family and spirit. Everyone will find gems in this book.

Karen Dietz , Owner: Just Story It Former Executive Director, National Storytelling Network

Life Happens: How to Maintain Family Strength and Unity in the Face of Adversity takes the reader on an inspiring journey with families who are dealing with the challenge of chronic illness. Rather than being discouraged by their stories, the reader becomes wrapped in the complex web of sorrow, joy, despair, hope, fear, courage, and the many other emotions we as human beings feel when faced with the unexpected obstacles of life. Taralyns family research experience and Teresas gift of storytelling is a happy combination for communicating an important message that can benefit every reader. Life Happens ... is a rewarding experience for any reader who loves family and rejoices in hearing a great story. The family storytelling activity suggestions are invaluable for any family.

Dr. Kari S. Archibald , Department of Health, Recreation, and Human Performance, Brigham Young University Idaho

Life Happens ... is written in story form, which allows the reader to make their own connections, draw their own conclusions, and take away their own lessons. Taralyn and Teresas ability to capture their own family history may inspire others to look more closely at and share the stories of their own families and, thus, strengthen those they love. The thread of family strength is evident throughout, and while clearly there were many challenges for so many family members, the common positive link that provided strength was their link to family.

Dr. Julie M. Hite , Educational Leadership & Foundations, Brigham Young University

Your book was so readable with excellent examples on how families with strength and unity can survive in the face of adversity. Having it in story form made it so easy to follow each familys story. There was so much to touch the heart, lighten your spirit, and bring solace to your soul. I would give it two thumbs up!

Jana Firth, Volunteer: Utah Fibromyalgia Association, Mother, Grandmother, Sister, and chronic illness Warrior

Acknowledgments

W e are aware a project such as this cannot be accomplished alone. We owe a great debt of gratitude to all who have helped us along our journey.

Glory goes to God first and foremost, the great Teacher and Exemplar. He has entrusted us with experiences that enable us to reach others. Our hope and prayer is that He can reach you through this work.

Thanks go next to our family and friends who have shared their stories with us. Unless express permission was given to use real names, all names in this work have been changed to protect those who have entrusted us with their stories. Special thanks go to the families who opened their hearts and homes to Taralyn as she conducted her thesis research, and also to her faculty advisor and friend, Stacy Taniguchi PhD, who made her research possible.

Our family, roommates, employers, and friends have been impacted by the amount of time spent on this project. Wed like to thank them for their love, patience, and willingness to allow us time and space to fulfill the dream of sharing these stories with you.

We would like to express appreciation to Christopher Robbins and Familius Publishing for believing in this project from the beginning. We would also like to thank the editors and proofreaders who helped to polish our work into something worth publishing.

Dedication

We dedicate this work to Stuart Lynn Clark, without whom there is no story. Glory be to God for any good that comes from these pages, we pray they may touch your heart and bless your life!

Introduction

Ironically, we both felt sucker punched just as Familius sent us the contract to share these stories with you. We hadnt come down with any life-threatening illnesses, but by the way we reacted to the insidious bugs waging war on our productivity and well-being, you would think we had. Admittedly, we had nothing more than colds. Yet, this book sat untouched for weeks as we both recovered because neither one of us could muster the fortitude to tackle the process in our weakened states.

As we lay in our sickbeds of affliction, slipping in and out of cold medicine-induced dreams of dancing hippos and spinning sea turtles, we independently expressed feeling ashamed of the effect a simple cold was having on us and therefore everyone around us. Then we began talking about this book and Stuart, the patriarch of our family. He has been battling chronic respiratory illness for nearly ten years, and he doubles as our hero. While a little cold has the power to knock us both flat on our backs, he has felt at least that uncomfortable every day since the onset of his illness. The weariness, sinus pressure, body aches, tickly throat, coughing, sneezing, labored breathing, and medicinal effects have been his constant companions. While we knew our colds would pass, he knows hell never feel completely normal again. Add unforeseen side effects, complications, surgeries, and never-ending doctor visits to the ongoing symptoms, and it becomes easy to see why we hold this man in such high regard. Stuart continues to work to support our family, spend time with each of us, serve in our church and community, and bless the lives of others. We have never once heard him ask, Why me? He simply accepts his fate and moves on. This may sound a little warped, but what an incredible blessing his chronic illness has been for our family! We hope youll understand by the end of this book why we count his crucible of affliction as one of our familys choicest blessings.