What If?
A Woman’s Journey Toward Conquering the Burden of Incest
by
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Beneath the visible layer of life that we make available to the outside world often lie multiple layers of secrets, lies, and insecurities. It is, in some cases, these things that dominate our existence rather than those things visible to the eyes of others. One of the multiple listings in the dictionary to define life states that it is the physical, mental, and spiritual experiences that constitute existence. What makes each of our lives unique is the way we process and respond to the experiences. I prefer to think of it like solving a Rubik’s cube. The cube represents life. The beginning and the end, birth and death, are the same for all of us. As a result, they can be considered uniform and orderly. In the case of the cube, all the colors are properly matched, a separate color on each of the cube’s six sides. But along the course of life, things happen to turn the panels on that cube upside down, left and right, backward and forward, until all those colors are mixed. Some days, things go well, and we think we almost have those colors back in order. The more turns we make, the closer the cube comes to looking like that uniform, orderly cube we took out of the package when we first bought it. All is right with the world. We want to jump up and down, claim the victory, and take all the credit. But we can’t because we still have that one last panel out of place. Other days, we make one wrong turn, and what we thought was going well has started to go in reverse. We have more color variation, more chaos, and more confusion than we’ve ever seen. And whether out of fear, pride, or reluctance, we find ourselves unable to admit we really don’t have all the answers or know how to keep it all together. Such is the case with What If?: A Woman’s Journey toward Conquering the Burden of Incest, which chronicles the experiences and realities of an incestuous life versus what is seen through the eyes of others. Among the things considered are the possible repercussions of exposing the secret, the relationships affected, and whether the end result for all parties concerned was for better or worse. What if we refused to expose the secret, acting as if all was right with world? What if we exposed it, admitting we didn’t have all the answers? In the end, the deciding factor was determining who was most adversely affected by hiding the truth and choosing to live a new life as a result.
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About the Book
What If?: A Woman’s Journey Toward Conquering the Burden of Incest is an autobiographical voyage through time that seeks to look for answers retroactively. What If? poses questions about the alternative twists and turns one’s life maze might take if a horrendous experience such as incest could have been avoided, including internal persecution, family conflict, and spiritual warfare. The book also addresses the possibility of maximizing lessons learned as a result of such an experience, even if its occurrence was many decades prior to their realization.
About the Author
Dr. Cheryl Miles-Stevenson is the daughter of the late Bettye Jean Miles and the late Dave Willis Miles of Yazoo City, Mississippi. She was born on July 20, 1966, and is the youngest of three children. She received her childhood education in the Yazoo City Public Schools, graduating from Yazoo City High School in 1984. She was the first National Achievement Scholar to attend Rust College, Holly Springs, Mississippi, where she received a bachelor of science degree in biology (summa cum laude) in 1987. She also earned a bachelor of science degree in pharmacy (cum laude) from Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, in 1990; a master of science degree in pharmaceutics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1992; and a doctor of philosophy degree in pharmaceutics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1996. Upon doing so, she became the first African American female to receive a PhD in the natural sciences from the University of Michigan. Dr. Stevenson has worked in the pharmaceutical and nutritional industries since 1996 as a formulation development scientist. Dr. Stevenson is a member of several civic and professional organizations including the NAACP, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, Opelika Athletic Booster Club, and the Psi Gamma Zeta Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. Dr. Stevenson is an active member of Bowen United Methodist Church, in Tuskegee, Alabama, where she has assumed active roles in the church including youth ministries, lay servant ministries, and the trustee board. Dr. Stevenson is married to her husband of nineteen years, Senta D. Stevenson, and they have two sons—Darian, sixteen, and Jordan, fourteen. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and watching sports.