Description

By Melisande Randall

ISBN: 978-1-84991-855-8
Published: 2012
Pages: 88
Key Themes: Mental Health, Autobiography, Family, Disability

Description

Melisande Randall was raised in a household where her mothers mood disorder went undiagnosed and untreated for decades. Born with albinism, she has struggled with race and color issues, disability issues, womens issues, and mental health issues while hiding under the invisible umbrella of toxic parentage. In this short autobiographical piece, she delves into the difficulties of her upbringing, but ends her story on a positive note, sharing the tools she has used to help her survive, heal and grow as a struggling Christian, single mother, and broken daughter. While work is in progress, Melisande hopes, in time, to fully rebuild her sense of self, reclaim her womanhood, and reconstruct her identity with both positivity and spirituality. Having kept journals most of her life, writing has proven to be a great catharsis. It has been a means of healing and coping in the wake of societal stigma associated with family dysfunction and mental illness.

About the Author

Melisande Randall was born in 1967 at Torrejon Air Force Base in Madrid, Spain. A year later, her family returned to Southern California, where they all currently reside. She is the youngest of three daughters and single mother of two sons. Holding Masters degrees in both Occupational Safety and Public Administration from the University of Southern California, Melisande has worked as both a safety professional and science teacher in the Los Angeles area. While raising her sons, Nate and Kristian in El Segundo, California, she writes in her spare time and is a blogger on various mental health forums. She enjoys hiking, line dancing, studying Spanish, and spending time with her cats, Ginger, Rusty and Beijing. Under the Invisible Umbrella. Surviving My Mothers Mental Illness is her first book to be published and she is also working on a second manuscript as well as a book of poetry.