Let My Legacy Be Love, a Story of Discovery and Transformation: Tracing Adult Issues to Childhood Hurts

Beauchemin (Ready, Set, Live!), a motivational speaker and voice teacher, pries into her childhood to better understand her adult self in this tough, heartrending memoir. Beauchemin felt like she needed to better understand herself after her second divorce. In doing so, she turns to what she was taught and how she behaved as a child. Emotional displays weren’t welcome in her home, and she remembers being told she was a “red-faced monkey” for crying. She loved school, and after she was told by her third-grade teacher that she had potential, she felt she’d finally found a “firm foundation in which I flourished and began to develop a sense of self-confidence and self-worth.” Meanwhile, her mother’s hypercriticism taught her to “make demoralizing conditions okay,” and she learned to cope by numbing herself to pain by mentally dissociating from her body—a defense mechanism she has only been able to overcome by accepting herself and living more presently. I was “jumping to forgiveness without first feeling the pain inflicted,” she writes. After years of processing these errant teachings, she discovered how to cry to relieve stress, live more “fully present” by stepping away from self-criticisms, and to not shy away from tough emotions. After each chapter, Beauchemin includes a relevant Bible verse. By chronicling past difficulties and revealing “discoveries” that came later, this impactful memoir will help any reader struggling with self-confidence. (BookLife)