Beauty in Disrepair
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Other changes were more than subtle. Halfway through my first year at college, my Grandmother died. I was notified of this by two police officers showing up at my dorm room. While the other hall residents looked on, they told me that my Grandmother had just passed away. I hadn't time to grieve, you see. I fell against the door and the officer grabbed my hand to hold it and he said, "Honey, we need to take you to your mom. She's losing it."
I rode back to our apartment in the back of a police cruiser preparing for what I would find when I got back home. Two more officers were at her apartment trying to keep her calm. When they were sure I would be okay they left. Through the tears my mother looked at me and said in a soft, sweet voice, "My Mommy died."
"I know," I said, and I held her tight.
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About the Book
Norma and Celia Forte’s mother was a beautiful woman with stunning blue eyes, intellectual curiosity, and artistic talents, but she was broken, often bruised, and sometimes a monster. She wore many faces. In Beauty in Disrepair, authors and sisters Norma and Celia Forte narrate their memories of a tumultuous childhood, offering perspectives on living with a parent suffering with Dissociative Identity Disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.
Through a collection of vignettes and poetry, this memoir provides a visceral account of the residual effects of being raised primarily by a parent who was undiagnosed until their adulthood. The Forte sisters tell how working through these memories was a painful, but ultimately rewarding journey. The process of healing is life long, and they are finally making peace with their lost childhood as adult survivors.
Beauty in Disrepair reflects on the girls’ childhood as survivors of direct abuse and the residual effects of DID as their mother battled at least twenty-two alter identities. Norma and Celia openly share their story to offer peace to others facing the same experiences and provide a hopeful future for those who have yet to find the beauty they seek, that is in disrepair.
About the Author
Norma Forte is a writer, a painter, and a survivor. She creates poetry, nonfiction, and artwork that reflects her creativity and love of nature.
Celia Forte creates poetry, fiction, and music, and is a survivor. She enjoys international travel and philosophy.
This is the first memoir they have written together.