This memoir tells the brutally honest story of how author Sarah Ann Murphy learned to overcome serious depression and a failure-to-thrive childhood. She begins with her birth and traces her childhood with an Irish, alcoholic mother who abandoned her emotionally. As a child, her existence was barely tolerated by her Old Mother; birthdays were not acknowledged or celebrated at all. As she recounts the ups and downs--mostly downs--of her growing up years, she comes to the realization that the best times were with her animals.
She learned to thrive because her animals taught her that she was lovable and gave her a different perspective on life. This in turn gave her that spark that set her on the path to developing a strong backbone and a moral core--strengths she would need later with her abusive husband, who treated her much the same as her mother had. As she began to grow into her own person--someone who could love and be loved--she took the steps with her analyst to overcome serious depression and a failure-to-thrive childhood.