As kids all over town scurry in the morning rush to get ready for school, one seven-year-old girl, with a tear-streaked face, stops to ask her mother the question she asks every day, "Is the world going to come to an end?" Exasperated, the mother sends her daughter upstairs to finish getting ready.

This little girl with adult worries goes on to face sexual abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, debilitating disease, and, perhaps her most challenging trial, a longtime friend and partner's diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. But Kathy Kerwin's memoir is not a hopeless string of obstacles. On the contrary, it is an inspirational call to action for anyone who has faced, or is facing, one or all of these situations to make positive change and take control of life. She believes that every trial is an opportunity to grow, and if nothing else has seemed to help, then maybe her approach will. One never knows what might work until the effort is made.

Life is a battle worth living. Follow Kathy's steps to freedom from addiction, guilt, shame, and poor self-esteem to climb out of desperate circumstances and start a journey toward living the best life possible.