Danee Kiernan
By Danee Kiernan
Life is Almost Always Good and co-author of Bouncing with Style. #31
There is a photo that sits on my desk. It’s a picture four women smiling….Sisters. These women range in age from 56-72 years old. They resemble each other and yet are distinctly unique individuals.
I have looked at this photo many times and they have smiled back often, but it wasn’t until recently that I shared more than a passing glance. Beautiful, strong and confident, these women have been role models in my life. They were a part of my childhood, growing up years and adulthood.
The four sisters speak volumes with smiling faces that are frozen in time.
I pause on each face. I gain strength from this photo. I feel the sisters with me, pouring their love, encouragement and positive energy into my soul. I feel a bond with them….A bond of understanding and empathy, of hope, and of love.
The four sisters were raised by alcoholic parents and grew up in poverty. The four sisters had a father that sexually abused his daughters. The four sisters had a mother who was a victim herself.
One sister was a victim of rape at 18. She raised her child as a single mother.
One sister lost her love in an accident. In a time before computers and cell phones, she didn’t learn of his death until days later. The man never knew of his child, and that sister gave birth, said goodbye forever and handed her baby to a couple who had waited for years for a child of their own.
One sister lost her child in a car accident.
One sister married but never had any children. One sister lost her child to suicide.
One sister lost her grandson in a motorcycle accident. One sister rescued her lost child from addiction.
One sister had a spouse that fought in Viet Nam. One sister rescued her daughter from an abusive spouse.
One sister experienced divorce. One sister suffered a long, emotionally void marriage.
One photo. Four sisters. Their dancing eyes, open expressions and beautiful spirits speak their lives of experience…..strength, wisdom, pain, hope, vulnerability, happiness, heartache, survival and love.
A bond of sisterhood posing for a picture, and through my lens, I see the lives of four women smiling back at me.
Danee Kiernan is a writer, parent, entrepreneur and co-author of Bouncing with Style: Starting over but Not From Scratch. She connects with others based on her experiences as a full time woman, full time mom (adoptive, birth & foster), stay at home mom, working woman and business owner. She hopes that sharing her experiences openly will help others to find their bounce. Danee is a powerful advocate for women’s rights, especially every woman’s right to choose her own destiny and build the life that she desires.
Danee KIernan earned a BS degree in Elementary Education with an early childhood specialization from Iowa Wesleyan College and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Danee believes in the importance of love, family and pursuing dreams. She makes her home in Wisconsin, where she and husband Jim, are thoroughly enjoying the experience of raising their 11 children.
You can reach Danee Kiernan at daneekiernan@gmail.com
Bouncing with Style 