A Stolen Life.

I almost forgot while I was at the beach I read two pretty heart wrenching stories.

Day One: A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

This story was truly powerful, heartbreaking, and chilling. Not to mention, it is all real.  Every piece you read is an intimate detail of a life that was taken for 18 years. It is pretty unimaginable to think she survived to even tell her story. Here were some of my favorite quotes or passages...

Who knew a pine cone could mean so much in someone's life. For it to mean something as big as freedom just leaves me speechless. My eyes are tearing up just thinking of what that little girl was going through. 

"When I don't dare to think, I dare to dream."

"Love is the easy part, it's the living without the love you need that is hard."

It also shares some of her journal entries.

She would often list goals, or places she would someday like to visit.

To think of the simplicity of such dreams is hard to imagine.

At one point she even says she will never hate Phillip and Nancy (her kidnappers)

because she doesn't want that sort of bitterness in her life.

That takes one strong person.

And I think she beats the odd.

Of course, I think she has a long hard road in front of her, but her story is inspiring.

The guts it took to right and open up her life in that way is remarkable, and although sometimes you just want to jump in the story and scream, that was her life for 18 years and she had no other choice but to adapt and survive. I commend her. 

So go read. It is a must!