The Strongbox: Searching for My Absent Father

By: Terry Sue Harms

Narrated by: Terry Sue Harms

Following the unexpected death of her alcoholic mother, 16-year-old Terry Sue decides her biological father, whom she doesn't know, could change her life for the better. However, by the time she finds him - after decades of searching - she understands that the nurture she thought she needed from him is something she's already cultivated for herself.

©2020 Terry Sue Harms (P)2021 Terry Sue Harms

I loved this book!

I can honestly say this book has been one of my favorite memoirs I’ve ever read. The author speaks from her heart and bares her true soul with such honesty, I felt like I was living her life right alongside of her. With each document piece of paper she pulls from her mother’s strong box it gives her better clues but just as often, opens up more mysteries to who her father is. But she powers on with impressive tenacity.

I can whine on and on about my own imperfect childhood and my parents’ inadequacies, but reading what the author has been through made me appreciate the charmed life I really had. I didn’t have a stepfather who said horrible things to me when he thought I was asleep. Nor an alcoholic mother who put me last on her list of priorities. Overnight, Terry Sue had been stripped of all love, left vulnerable and mentally alone with no one to hold onto and lead her to safety. There was no one to tell her that everything’s going to be okay and was forced to be strong and resourceful all on her own at such a young age.

Reading her beautifully constructed sentences and creative vocabulary, it was hard to imagine this woman could have reading disabilities. I realized how many things in my own life I take for granted. But, how she kept an identity of who she was and where she was going next proves what strength she has inside when most others would find an excuse to wallow in self-pity. The author admits to her failures and wrongdoings without blaming them solely on her upbringing and has learned to overcome them with the courage she’s learned from survival.

It was a joy listening to the author’s beautiful voice narrating her own memoir like a seasoned voiceover actress. I appreciated what I learned about the beauty salon business and insights into the male-biased legal system.

I felt inspired by how the author crafted her amazing story and can only imagine what an incredible hairstylist she must be.

A Must Read

Beautiful and powerfully told story of perseverance and acceptance. Amazingly written and narrated by the author- a must read.