Beyond Surviving is the memoir of a California native daughter. Born in the South

Bay of Los Angeles at the end of WWII, and raised in the Mojave Desert, I

returned to Los Angeles to study at my mother's alma mater, UCLA during the

early 1960's, a period of hope, change and a challenge to the status quo. Ready to

jump out of school and into life, I got a job at a bank in Beverly Hills and met the

man of my dreams, tall, good looking, intelligent, fun and very charismatic. After 4

years of dating, I finally married him, not realizing that my life would change in

ways I never imagined. After 20 years together, my life had turned into a series of

desertions and I decided to take my son and leave him. He turned on the charm and

begged for a second chance. Believing the marriage vows I took, I stayed to work

things out. That's when it all descended into Hell!