It's Hard Being You: A Primer on Being Happy Anyway

Emery's memoir resides in the everyday struggle to live as best we can, through the good and bad, providing insights on how all of us can survive well.Sharon Emery struggled with the losses and limits she faced but couldn't change – no matter how hard she tried.And she did try. First with her incurable severe stutter, then with the death of her daughter, Jessica, and the too-early deaths of her own younger siblings. Meanwhile, her “broken” voice meant her long career in communications was regularly a battle.Emery wrote this memoir to help guide her children on their own life journeys, stressing the amazing resilience of humans beings. Exhibit A: herself.In the foreword, Steve Gleason – former NFL player with the New Orleans Saints, now living with ALS, and a friend of Emery's son, Ben Schneider, front man for the band Lord Huron – provides a compelling introduction to what we can gain from what we lose.Emery was a daughter, sister and mother – and lost all those roles. She was a journalist, public relations consultant, and teacher – and never able to speak fluently.Her memoir recounts Emery's challenges and achievements, tracing her efforts to give them meaning and find where they fit in her life. It's a process she considers vital to surviving what happens to you – telling the story. This is a reaffirming example of how it can be done.About the author:Sharon Emery is a communicator who struggles to speak. She forged a career in journalism, public relations, and teaching, speaking with her “accent,” her stutter. Luckily, it taught her a lot about life. She lives in Michigan with her husband, John Schneider, on twelve acres near Lansing and on Lake Huron near Cheboygan. Read more