I’m Sheila Chester—a writer, mom of three, humorist, and storyteller who has been writing about life as I’ve lived it for more than a decade.
Go back as far as you want, reader. It’s been a ride.
The early years get pretty intense—infertility, adoption, IVF, grief, and building the family I prayed for. Then came a spiritual awakening, a whole lot of questioning, and the unraveling and rebuilding of what I believed about myself, God, and the world.
These days, you’ll find a lot more comedic storytelling about marriage, motherhood, reinvention, and the general absurdity of being human.
These posts span more than ten years of my life. I’ve changed. My beliefs have changed. My writing has changed. Thankfully, my sense of humor has survived all of it.
Enjoy the ride.
Chapter 3: Living In It
The first clear memory I have is of me in the fetal position in my closet sobbing uncontrollably.
I had just ruined our date night with a serious breakdown. We were driving to a theater to watch the new Avatar movie when a friend texted to say she was in labor. Now all those pregnancy announcements I saw last year were coming to be.
Chapter 2: Recovery
Within a week of the race, I went into the therapist’s office sobbing and begging for depression medication. Any medication. I couldn’t take it anymore. Turn it off, turn it all off.
Chapter 1: The Race
Sheila Chester, a self-acclaimed free spirit, lived a life of relative privilege. She grew up in an upper middle class family on the plains of South Dakota. She moved to the big city after graduating high school and met and married her dream husband, a rocket scientist with an obsession for fitness. Their lives were not flawless, but relatively simple. Until they decided to start a family. This book follows their years of infertility and certain divorce. Sheila found herself in the depths of depression and anxiety, looking for an escape. Through hard work and dedication to their relationship, they went on to adopt two children.
The journey of fertility treatments, marriage therapy, adoption, and subsequently parenthood pushed them into a self-discovery game that is ever changing to this day.
Sheila’s Take on Friends
We don’t have to go through life alone. While it is so easy to check out of personal relationships these days by just logging on to the computer, we have got to be strong enough to take a look outside our screens and see the human beings right in front of our faces. We get a choice to have people walk beside us. Sometimes its the people we expect to walk beside us and some times we are surprised by those that end up unexpectedly becoming the most important part of our lives.
