Elaine experienced an horrendous childhood, filled with physical, sexual and mental abuse. As an adult she lives in fear of her life falling apart; reality becomes blurred as she fails to repress and bury her trauma. She cannot come to terms with the horrors that her own mother had inflicted upon her. She doesn't believe that her life could ever actually, be a happy one.

What if you met yourself as a child? Would she/he be proud of you and of the choices you made in your life? Or would she/he be ashamed of who you turned her/him into?

In the heart-wrenching yet ultimately uplifting mini-novella, The Echoes of Laughter, we follow John's extraordinary journey through the tumultuous landscape of mental illness, loss, and the enduring power of human connection. From the tender age of one, when his father's tragic passing casts a long shadow over his life, to his present day at 35, where he stands on the precipice of newfound hope and self-acceptance, John's story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.

By Iola Mary Ballard (In Loving Memory)