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For Terese Luikens, a picture-perfect childhood it was not. Frequent moves. An emotionally absent mother and an alcoholic father. Suicide.

The sixth of seven children, Terese grew up in an unstable and chaotic household—invisible to her mom yet cherished by her alcoholic dad, who took his own life when Terese was thirteen years old.

This heartfelt memoir documents the chain reaction of a tumultuous family history. From her stormy childhood to the far-reaching effects of her father’s suicide, Terese shares her inspiring journey to escape the shame of her past, find healing and love, learn to trust, and discover faith in a real and personal God.

Terese Luikens

Meet the Author

Writer Terese Luikens contributes articles for Mother Earth News, The Secret Place, Decision Magazine, The Upper Room, Hearts at Home, and the Epoch Times and publishes her own blog, Why Bother? A schoolteacher and a yoga instructor, Terese lives in Sandpoint, Idaho, with her husband and enjoys being mother to three grown sons and grandmother to her much-loved grandchildren.

Latest Blog Posts

Why Bother With Bravery?

man on top o a mountain
The Brave Ones Have you ever met a brave hearted individual? I have. Every time I facilitate an Emotional Healing Through Forgiveness© workshop I meet brave hearted people. What are these folks like? No two are the same. Some are tall, others are short. They are formally dressed, casually dressed and some are well tattooed.…

Why Bother to be Willing to Trudge?

waterfall
Willing to Trudge Recently, I picked up Bill Bryson’s book, A Walk in the Woods. This book chronicles his adventure of walking the Appalachian Trail back in 1996.  Though I’ve never undertaken such a long and arduous walk as he wrote about, I have slung a backpack onto my shoulders and trudged down trails in…

Why Bother Being Vulnerable Again?

Terese Luikens
Starting Out Vulnerable Everyone of us is born dependent, unguarded and completely innocent. As for me, I was fortunate enough to have two parents and five older siblings who cared for me and cared about me.  Even though I grew up in a noisy and chaotic home, someone was always there to feed me, change…

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Communication
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Relationships
Family
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Mental Health
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Health
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Faith