While struggling with PTSD, depression, anxiety, and heartbreak, M2 published her first poetry book in January 2022. M2 has written many poems throughout her life but the ones added in her book during 2021, were heartbreakingly beautiful. She shed light to outsiders, friends, and family on some of the deepest trails of her year. From dealing with a divorce, to still adjusting to home post-deployment, everything started to eat away at her. M2 came home from deployment in April 2020 at a lean 135 pounds, but toward the end of 2021, she was 114 pounds. Not only did she struggle from a loss of appetite and massive weight loss, M2 faced psychological problems that weakened her emotional and mental state of mind.
M2's main escape from reality was writing. She felt like writing was better than her weekly therapy sessions. So, she poured her heart onto the pages until the tears slowed down. One poem after another, she felt like the weight around her souls were getting lighter and lighter. By the end of 2021, M2 caught COVID-19 and was forced to quarantine for two-weeks. During her recovery, she spent countless hours re-reading poems and found that the pain from the year was more bearable. After formatting her manuscript and recovering from COVID, she self-published Recollections of 2021 in KDP.
Many friends, family, and strangers purchased her book through Amazon.com and there are no words to express M2's gratitude for their support. Publishing Recollections of 2021 inspired her to continue to share her literary work to the public in hopes that others who might be dealing with struggles understands that they are not alone.
