Hotel Candelara: On Day Seven

Time to Rest and Reflect!

DAY SEVEN

And on the Seventh Day they rested—after ordering a larger version of the tiny candelabra.

It deserved a prominent place of honor in the cottage.

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REFLECTION:

Hotel Candelabra was written during the three days leading up to Thanksgiving (2023). We had plans to move to the cottage the following week and life was on hold. What I did not know was that my subconscious was anticipating a trauma anniversary and after fifty years, would begin to download the entire memory of the traumatic events during the Thanksgiving weekend when I returned home during my freshman year in college. It was time to finish another layer of healing .

I was getting ready to leave Hotel Candelabra.

I am sure that those who have read the Brave series found many parts of my healing journey in Hotel Candelabra. Alden serves, in part, as a wise guide much like my first therapist, Dr. Sue whose skill and care are embedded in everything I write. Alden is also the calm presence in the storm much like what my father provided until he passed at the age of 100.

My goal is to publish this story—in some completed form—to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the day I walked into therapy ten years ago. No one could have predicted all of the changes in our lives during the past ten years. This included multiple job losses or retirements, adventures in living in two different RVs, a move to Washington State, a pandemic, my being catapulted into national leadership within several trauma-informed arenas, teaching courses for Tabor College’s MEd in Neuroscience and Trauma, podcasts and presentations, and the publication of four books.

The cottage in Hotel Candelabra is real! And this is where I have come to rest and enjoy the fruits of ten years of labor. I am grateful to every relative, friend, therapist, reader, and colleague who has supported me on this journey!

Weber and I are enjoying a warm morning on the Porch!

Dedicated to the therapists, counselors, and coaches who step into the darkness caused by trauma with a single candle and begin to guide us to safety.

Scott and I are grateful for these candle bearers in our life:
Susan M. Kwiecien, PhD, LMFT, EMDR II, retired
Darrick Johns, MA, NA, AAC
Krista Brown, LICSWA, MHP, CMHS
Margaret (Peggy) Patterson, LICSW

We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane future.
 -John F. Kennedy

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