Learning to Let Go: Poetry and Prose Sharing the Pain, Pleasure, and Purpose of Letting Go

By D.D. Thompson

Feeling the pain from hitting rock bottom after experiencing the unholy trinity of death, desolation, and divorce. She masterfully journeys back into the canals of her childhood memories, teenage fallacies, and adulthood to identify the detrimental strongholds, patterns, and behaviors she grew attached to. While laughing out loud at her hot comb traumas, crying inside for all her hidden pain, and rejoicing at her deliverance. She culminates each short story in a silky, sincere, and strong translation of her transformation. Beautifully sharing life lessons, failures and the pleasures endured, as she learned to let go of everything that hurt more than it healed, her heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Aug 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781665709699

D.D. Thompson

D.D. Thompson is the author of Learning to Let Go. She is an accomplished Business executive, Diversity & Inclusion advocate, and passionate Public Administrator. Holding a Master of Business Administration (MBA), from Ohio Christian University. And a bachelor’s from The Ohio State University. She began writing poetry at the age of twelve. And from the first poem to her newly published memoir more than three decades later, all her writings include authentic narratives of the relational human experience. She delicately explores the heights and depths of familial dynamics, intimate and platonic relationships with humor and sensuality. Producing her best writing after a combination of mediation, soft music, and strong tea (or semi-sweet wine). She methodically crafts her works with vivid detail and sincere emotion. D.D. Thompson is honored to be the mother of three amazing children and one Goldendoodle.

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Copyright © 2021 D.D. Thompson.

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make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 978-1-6657-0968-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-0967-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-0969-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021914378

Archway Publishing rev. date: 8/19/2021

I

dedicate this book to my father. I thank God for your life and the memory of your smile. Thank you for the words you spoke on our last call before you entered eternity. Thank you for telling me how proud you were of me, how beautiful I am, and great of a mother you thought I was. Thank you for apologizing for all the pain you caused my tender heart as a child. Thank you, Dad, for telling me you loved me for the last time. I love you forever.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1:   Holding Hands

Holding Hands as Translated in Poetry

Chapter 2:   Squeezing

Squeezing as Translated in Poetry

Chapter 3:   The Grip

The Grip as Translated in Poetry

Chapter 4:   Fighting Fists

Fighting Fists as Translated in Poetry

Chapter 5:   Frolicking Fingers

Frolicking Fingers as Translated in Poetry

Chapter 6:   Put Ya Finger on It

Put Ya Finger on It as Translated in Poetry

Chapter 7:   Hands Raised

Hands Raised as Translated in Poetry

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

F rom the core of my soul and in the fullness of everything that I have become, am, and will be, I want to thank my Savior, my God and heavenly Father. Lord, I thank you for every second, minute, hour, day that you have graciously filled my lungs with your breath. God, I sincerely thank you for your forgiveness that I have often begged for and humbly received. For all your overwhelming and all-consuming grace and mercy that you constantly clothe me in. Heavenly Father, I want to acknowledge your omnipotence, omniscience, faithful and unconditional love. I am absolutely nothing without you and am honored to be a child of the Most High. Thank you, Jesus, for creating me with purpose and filling me with passion to manifest it.

I would love to recognize and express my deep gratitude to the three souls that invigorate my entire existence with vitality. To my oldest daughter. I want to thank you for reminding me how to remain committed to my goals and make time for laughter and shopping. To my middle child, thank you for keeping me grounded, sensitive to the flow of life’s energy and power, and overwhelming me through your humble beauty. And last but definitely not least, my only son. Thank you for teaching me how to embrace unconditional love, listen patiently, and sing off key while dancing.

I must acknowledge my mother who has unselfishly loved, provided, and protected me my entire life. Mama thank you for listening to all my stories, laughing and crying with me. Thank you for fighting for and with me when I was too weak or defeated to do it by myself. Thank you for stepping in and up when everyone else in my life rejected and abandoned me. Mama thank you for being the strong woman and example of resilience that I am growing to become.

Thank you to every individual who inspired this book. I have loved and lost many and myself a million times over, but I thank you for teaching me about what love is and what it isn’t. Thank you for the disappointments, dark days, and desperation that drove me to surrender to the pain. Finally admitting my failures and transgressions in order to find peace, provision, and my purpose. No matter what relationship we currently have, had, or if we met for this first time while reading this book, I want to tell you something. I love you, and I mean it!

INTRODUCTION

H ey y’all! Thank you for trusting me with your time, energy, and attention while you read my book. I must admit to you a few things before you partake. First of all, this is not a fake narrative or cosmetically designed text that will leave you feeling cozy and comfortable. Quite the contrary, my friend. It is full of extremely intelligent prose as well as slang-ridden sentences full of foul words and feelings. I have written this book over the past fifteen years, during seasons of both great joy and despair. Times when I was doing everything right and times when I fucked up everything I touched.

I wrote this book for the release of all the toxic thoughts, mismanaged expectations, and pent-up pain that silently tormented my soul. I wrote this book to find myself, find the woman, leader, lover, and spiritual warrior I lost over the years. I wrote this book as a public apology to myself, my family, my partners, and my friends who have been impacted by the decisions I have made. Learning to Let Go is not just a book; it is the script of my transformation. It gives you a glimpse into the process of my progress to power from fragility. I want to explain how I embraced letting go of all the somethings and all of those someone’s to find the most valuable treasure on earth. Me.

I was a poet before I ever wrote any books. So, although I literally become an open book in the text, I absolutely needed to give you something to drink as you digest the hearty and raw meals I serve in each