E050 Telling the World Your Painful Secret
Garbage Bag Suitcase: A Memoir author, Shenandoah Chefalo
We all have small secrets. Shenandoah Chefalo had a big painful secret, that she only shared with her husband… after the wedding. Her new book, Garbage Bag Suitcase, tells the world her childhood story of being neglected and abused by a drug addicted mother and choosing to be placed into the foster care system at 13. Now, a highly respected and successful professional woman living in a small midwestern town, nobody would ever guess her painful story.
This is not an easier story to hear. Shen is an amazing woman of such inner strength, that somehow she has managed to become a miracle of the foster care system and a survivor of neglectful and abusive parenting. She speaks very directly to us, matter of factly, instructing us to ask ourselves “What happened to that person?” instead of “What’s WRONG with that person?”. What “happened” to Shenandoah could have been any of us. How would you have fared in such a story? Most would become addicts, drop out of school, ending up in prison. But not Shenandoah.
Order Your Copy of Garbage Bag Suitcase
Read Mary’s Review of the book
More about Shenandoah Chefalo
Shenandoah Chefalo is a graduate of Michigan State University, holding a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science, a Core Essentials Graduate from Coach U, and a member of the Foster Leaders Movement. She is a sought after speaker on topics surrounding youth in foster care, and has been featured as a guest locally, nationally and internationally.
A survivor and alumni of the foster care system, Shenandoah Chefalo is the author of an e-book entitled Setting Your Vision and Defining Your Goals, and has recently finished her first full length manuscript Garbage Bag Suitcase. She is now working on her next manuscript, Hiking for Stillness.
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