the Girl Who Kept Going: When hurt didn’t win

The Girl Who Kept GoingA Memoir of Childhood Trauma, Heartbreak, Grief, and HopeFrom the outside, Regina's life may have looked ordinary. But behind closed doors, she was carrying wounds that began in childhood and followed her into adulthood.As a little girl, she was told she wasn't pretty enough or skinny enough to win the beauty pageants her mother entered her in. She was made to believe that her mother loved her sister more than she loved her. She and her older sister walked home from school alone, were left to care for themselves at an age when they still needed someone to care for them, and found their greatest sense of safety with their grandparents-a refuge that was often taken away as punishment.Determined to create a better life, Regina became a young wife and mother. Although her first marriage ended in divorce, it was largely peaceful. The most painful part wasn't the divorce itself-it was the heartbreaking decision to let her oldest daughter live with her father, with only limited visits. For years, Regina carried the heartache of a strained relationship with her daughter, never giving up hope that one day they would find their way back to each other.She later entered into a ten-year relationship that brought two more children into her life. Together, they did their best to build a family, but eventually that relationship also came to an end.Then Regina believed she had finally found her forever.She married again, but instead found herself trapped in a marriage marked by betrayal, infidelity, emotional and physical abuse, and control. Her husband even fathered a child outside of their marriage. The devastation ran deep as he used fear, shame, and even the withholding of basic necessities as tools of control, leaving Regina and her children facing circumstances no one should ever have to endure.Then came another unimaginable loss.Her father died by suicide, leaving behind heartbreak, unanswered questions, and a grief unlike anything she had ever known.But this is not simply a story about pain.It is the story of a little girl who quietly whispered to herself, "Hold on. You're going to make it." And it is the story of a woman who spent a lifetime proving those words true.With honesty, vulnerability, and faith, The Girl Who Kept Going is a story of breaking generational cycles, rebuilding broken relationships, surviving abuse, enduring profound grief and loss, and discovering that healing is possible.For anyone who has ever wondered if they are enough, if they will ever be loved without conditions, or if life can be beautiful after trauma, this book is a reminder that your past may shape your story, but it doesn't have to write your ending.Sometimes the strongest voice you'll ever hear is the one inside you whispering, "Hold on."