Abused before she could understand abuse, or speak of her pain, or bear the thought of being unloved, author Jennifer Wyler repressed the memory which persisted throughout the years and affected her ability to express herself as an adult. In They Told Me Not to Sing, she writes simply and honestly, narrating a heartbreaking journey of self-discovery. In this memoir, Wyler narrates the story of what it was like growing up with an alcoholic mother--a story of survival, rejection, hopes, and dreams. She tells the story of a young girl who met her Prince Charming and discusses her journey as a military wife. And, she shares the story of a forty-three-year-old woman who left a sheltered and privileged life to follow a career of nursing. Detailing Wyler's personal evolution, They Told Me Not to Sing, offers insight into her dreams and aspirations, her disappointments and failures, and how these emotions changed with her awakening consciousness and recognition of her own higher power. A moving account about the building and rebuilding of a life, it's a testament to Wyler's strength in moving ahead and not giving in to failure--a celebration of the luminous intensity of the human spirit.
About the Author: Jennifer Wyler was born in a small town in Prince Edward Island. She married while still a teenager and became a traditional military housewife and mother of four. She began to question her role as a woman in her culture during the 1960s. In 1971, she returned to school in order to attain the required number of credits to pursue a life of nursing. Nursing school was a shattering experience that stripped her of her pretences, removed her ladylike image, and forced her out of the role she had learned to play. After months of pain, she found a spiritual group that held classes in a hotel in Ottawa, and still eager to learn, she attended these classes. This experience had a most extraordinary effect on her mind and restored her faith in herself. Jennifer completed her nurse's training in Ottawa in 1984. A few years later, following a move to Prince Edward Island, she designed a program for adult children of alcoholics that was approved and accepted by the Provincial Alcohol and Drugs Problems Institute. She facilitated these groups for six years. She also attended night classes at the University of Prince Edward Island and nursed for a year in the local psychiatric hospital. Jennifer lives in Prince Edward Island with her husband and is a mother and grandmother. This is her first book.