In this episode, you’ll meet Natalie. She talks about how she was able to get out of her marriage with an alcoholic, finding a new husband and suffering with infertility, including a stillborn son. You’ll also hear Natalie talk about the loss of her sister, the shocking story behind what led her to home-school her children and at the end, how all of this led her to become an author.*

Natalie begins by telling how she was married to a very abusive alcoholic. Something her young three-year-old son said made her realize she needed to get out for the sake of herself and her two children. Natalie said leaving was the scariest thing she’s ever done because she had two little kids and no job. (I just have to say I am so proud of her for being brave and courageous for just KNOWING what she needed to do and taking the first step literally out the door. When you have faith in yourself, the rest will fall into place.)

After Natalie divorced her first husband, she was able to find a flexible job. She also met a wonderful man, whom she is now married to. They wanted more kids, but struggled with some infertility. Overall, Natalie had four miscarriages and one still birth. She did carry to term three more children and her husband adopted her older two kids.

Natalie also lost her only sister to a car accident. Her sister had some medical problems and they believe she went unconscious, which led her to hit a cement barrier. It killed one of her daughters (Natalie’s niece) on impact and her sister was in a coma for three weeks before they decided to take her off life support.

One day, Natalie and her family were out hiking. They found a turtle and became distracted by it. The entire time they’d been hiking, a man had been following a little too close for comfort. When the family turned their back to place the turtle back where it should be, the man actually grabbed Natalie’s daughter and took off with her. All of this led to Natalie homeschooling her children because the fear of them being in the public outweighed the cons of homeschooling.

Once her younger kids got into High School, Natalie didn’t have to be teaching every second of the day, so she had a lot of free time. She remembered how much she loved to write, so she began again. In turn, this led her to become a published author.

Natalie has published three books now and I’m sure she’s not done. Each of her books tells a different story, but intertwined throughout is healing for the character. Natalie loves to help people and has really found purpose in writing her books.

Listen to the full episode for all the details.

*Please note: this is the guest’s story. Their story is how they perceive it. It is not my judgement or responsibility to determine whether or not this story and the things said are true. Please be open minded when listening to/reading these stories.

LINKS TO THINGS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
-Natalie’s books: The Water is Wide, The Canary’s Song, The Dark Room
–My personal Instagram
–Natalie’s Instagram
–Ellen Hopkins books
–Ellen Hopkins Crank trilogy
–Vicki’s episode
-Natalie’s favorite book: Rebecca and The Chronicles of Narnia
-Natalie’s favorite product: Dr. Brandt skincare (She also mentioned Eucerin from Europe.)
-Natalie’s favorite song: The Ludlows from the movie Legends of the Fall, You Say by Lauren Daigle and God Only Knows by for King and Country (listen to these songs on the Hard Knocks guest list on Spotify)
–Joe Dispenza
-My ending song recommendation: Closure by Angels Fall (listen on the Hard Knocks playlist on Spotify)

“You will make painful and difficult decisions when you decide to break away.”

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