As usual, my hair was the main event each morning. My mom would tie strands of hair into rags the night before and remove them the next morning, leaving the curls fanning softly to my shoulders. It was a painful process to remove the rags, but Mom intended to see those curls every morning, so the routine continued until one day in 1962 changed everything.

It was time to go to school and dad was persuading me to get out on time. He drove me to school every morning on the way to work. I was in the sixth grade and was not yet aware of the world around me. The life I knew up to this point was school, home, homework, and most of all, staying in my room trying to block out late-night arguments between mom and dad. Dad and I never had anything to say to each other on the way to school each morning. He looked out the window without thinking about anything. This morning, dad turned on the radio. “Oh yeah, you have that something. I think I get it. I want to hold your hand… I want to hold your hand… I want to hold your hand.” The Beatles woke me up to the tumultuous and exciting decade of the 60’s. I remember the moment and the awareness that I was really feeling something. I felt flushed, excited, restless, and yet very much alive. The song ended. That was the first Beatles song I heard and it changed my life.

From that day on I became part of the 60’s movement and felt like I belonged. I no longer allowed my mother to tie my hair in rags. I listened to the radio as often as possible to try to catch a Beatles song. I spent hours on my Princess phone talking about the Beatles and then the latest new bands coming onto the scene. Everyone in my class felt the same way. We talk about them, we dress like them, we cut our hair like them, we scream and cry every time we hear them. There was nothing stopping me.

Suddenly, I was yelling at my parents with no fear of consequences. They didn’t know what to do with me, the music, my friends and my world in general. She was no longer under his control. They got away from me and I went off on my own. All the anger he had kept inside since early childhood gushed out as revenge. It seems trivial, but hearing that song that day woke up the sleeping giant inside him. In just a few years, I would be leaving home forever. I was strong and somehow I was going to find my meaning in this world.

The question I often ask myself is “What would have happened in my life if I had never heard that song on that particular day, at that particular moment?” I will never know. However, I know that from that day on I began my search for my meaning, which ultimately led me to write The Answer: A Journey from Anger to Peace. My passion is helping people understand and recognize their emotions, especially when it comes to feelings of anger, and learning how to create more peace in their lives. I hope that sharing my journey from anger to peace makes your journey a little easier and faster.