No one jumps up in the morning and says, "Let's talk about suicide." But we should, because too many people continue to die and too many people get left behind traumatized and shocked. And far too many people stay silent in the shadows who have considered suicide or actually attempted suicide and survived. Prejudice and discrimination run rampant throughout society. Some call it sigma. Stigma can kill. So what can we do? Embracing Imperfection reflects what Tracey Pacheco Medeiros has been living, sharing with others and trying to do to help teens, young adults, and those who are older, to not act on suicidal thinking or on thoughts to self-injure (Non-Suicidal Self-Injury, NSSI) by openly and honestly sharing her lived and learned experience. In her own words, her memoir is much more of a conversation than a "book." And she jumps from topic to topic, and sometimes repeats herself (that's how her conversations go), but they all weave together to offer hope not only to young people, but also to their families and friends, a large segment of the population who are also traumatized and impacted by the struggles their loved ones have. Medeiros shares: "I am a suicide attempt survivor. But that's not what defines me. I'm also a certified peer specialist, a project manager for a spiritual wellness check series for attempt and loss survivors, and I help oversee a teen center. I'm a trainer for More Than Sad and ASIST, and I'm a public speaker about healing from my suicide attempt. And it goes on. I live with bi-polar, borderline personality disorder, depression and PTSD. I was traumatized by sexual assault as a child, been married and divorced, have step-children and step-grandchildren. I love to color, my dog Ashes, ghost stories and my motorcycle. And, oh yeah, did I mention that I just spent 18 months battling breast cancer and other blood infections after a double mastectomy? So where did this all begin and how did I end up here?" Medeiros and co-author Annemarie Matulis worked long and hard to assure that as Tracey's story before, up to and after her last suicide attempt unfolds in this conversation, that the details do not lend themselves to any "triggering" context. Tracey's hope is this will be an acceptable and relatively easy read for someone as young as 13, and as old as many of our seniors who may have children and grandchildren who are engaged in this struggle to find emotional balance and mental wellness. Embracing Imperfection does not presume to have "the" magic answer to spiritual and mental wellness, but it does reveal the resilience of one person who has done more than just survive the trauma. And the hope is that it will help families come together and begin their own conversations. Medeiros says, "I have survived so much from sexual assault, to suicide attempts, to life threatening cancer. If your loved one came to you and said they had cancer, everyone would rally around, wrap them in hugs and shower them with love. We need to do the exact same thing with a loved one of any age who comes to us with suicidal thoughts, depression, or urges to self-injure. We need to rally around them, wrap them in hugs, and shower them with love. Let's do this!"
