Kristel

“Cults are thought to prey on the vulnerable, the lost, the broken—but here’s the thing, they also can ensnare anyone who is simply a human searching for meaning.”
― Shari Franke, The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom

“I’m not sucking up, I’m surviving, I thought. There’s a difference.”
― Shari Franke, The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom

“I wanted to support my mother, despite the complex emotions I harbored toward her. Perhaps it was because I could empathize with the experience of holding resentment against one’s parents and grappling with unresolved childhood trauma. I instinctively understood that unaddressed pain often perpetuates cycles of hurt, passing from one generation to the next. I’d never thought about it before, that even those who present a flawless facade to the world, like my mother, might be struggling with deep-seated issues that remain hidden from view. How their polished exterior can serve as a mask, concealing the inner turmoil and unhealed wounds that continue to fester beneath the surface.”
― Shari Franke, The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom

“ConneXions wasn't introducing Ruby to a new way of thinking; it was giving her the vocabulary and pseudo-scientific backing to justify what she'd been doing all along.”
― Shari Franke, The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom