A Memoir by Kossiwa Kougblenou

The Child I Was, The Adult I Became

Sleep, if you dare

A child's silence. A woman's voice.
A story of surviving, remembering, and becoming.

Book cover: The Child I Was, The Adult I Became

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About the Book

A journey through shadows and light

A child's silence. A woman's voice. This is the story of surviving, remembering, and becoming.

Written as a conversation between two versions of one life, one small and scared, the other tired but still standing, this memoir moves through a home where love was missing and the long, unfinished work of healing.

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Inside the Book

Thirty-two chapters, read by candlelight

Scroll slowly. Let the light find each one.

  1. 01The House Where Love Was MissingShadow
  2. 03The Little Girl Who Learned to Be QuietShadow
  3. 05The Silence That Raised MeShadow
  4. 09When Home Became HungerShadow
  5. 12The Night Everything ChangedSurvival
  6. 20Living in Survival ModeSurvival
  7. 21Becoming My Own Safe PlaceLight
  8. 25Learning to Breathe AgainLight
  9. 27Finding My VoiceLight
  10. 32Healing Is Not LinearLight

To be continued…

“My scars are not shame, they are proof. Proof that pain does not get the final say.”

From the Preface

Begin the Journey

This is the story of surviving, remembering, and becoming.