Writing The Sound of an Ordinary Life has been a great honor and an absolute privilege for me. It was also evidence that I had finally found the healing I had been looking for. Those who know me understand and support my need to achieve closure about a childhood gone wrong. And I believe I have. That's precisely why I wrote the book in the first place.

Even though I spent years remembering, analyzing, and reliving some of the unhappy details of my past, I've come to realize that a great majority of humanity has various difficulties to process, to navigate, or to wade through. Many people try to overcome physical, emotional, relational, or monetary struggles, which is why I see life's difficulties not just as a shared experience of being human but also as the most ordinary part of our earthly life.

So, once I was able to reconnect with the little girl I had left behind— the seven-year-old me — bringing her the most meaningful and life-changing gifts she had never received, I was also able to make peace with the past. My presents consisted of tiny sentences such as, "I love you," "I am proud of you," "Your efforts made a difference," "You mean the world to me," "We'll always be together," "I will never leave you again," all of which meant both she and I were able to forgive and bury the pain. I feel it's time to share my extraordinary experience with the world, hoping it will help others to reflect and press that reset button for better and brighter horizons.