About Me

I created FindMeRaw because I’ve learned something the hard way: sometimes finding yourself means losing the life you thought you were supposed to have.

I’ve survived things I once wasn’t sure I’d survive. I’ve walked away from an abusive, alcoholic and homophobic family. I’ve experienced serious illness, a stroke, estrangement, grief, financial setbacks and the humbling experience of starting over later in life.

But this isn’t a website about everything that went wrong.

It’s about what happens next.

I’m rebuilding my life in my 50s, and I’m writing about it while I do it. Not from a mountaintop pretending I’ve figured everything out, but from somewhere in the middle of the climb.

FindMeRaw is where we’ll talk about the things people often whisper about: family estrangement, boundaries, grief, recovery, bankruptcy, starting over, LGBTQ+ life, getting older, forgiveness and figuring out who you are when the old version of your life no longer fits.

I’m also turning many of these experiences into books, including Life After Bankruptcy, Starting Over at 55, and a future book about grief and family estrangement.

I don’t believe healing means pretending the past didn’t happen. I believe it means learning how to build a future that isn’t controlled by it.