“Nancy was as proud as she was critical of her younger daughter. She spoke glowingly about the precocious little girl who said her first sentence at seven months and walked at ten months.” — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share Image
“I thought carefully about the events of the evening and decided that there must be limitations on desires. It wasn't true that I could have anything I wanted. I felt good about understanding that, but I still didn't know how people figured out what it was safe to want. I did know, from my mother's scolding, that 'wanting' was a… — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share
“Lynn said that therapy was like separating the strands in a tangled web of yarn. It made sense that things would keep getting more… — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share Image
“I'm going through hell," I cried, "and Steve wants me to be thankful he baked a pie." (272)” — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share Image
“I had never before considered that people near me might have problems that were not caused by me. I had been created to please… — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share Image
“I feel as though I can only hold it together if I don't worry too much about its falling apart. (288)” — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share Image
“Jo knew she had to be utterly truthful, even when her version of the truth conflicted with what Lynn wanted to hear. Truth was… — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share Image
“Why didn't I feel that I belonged to my parents? How could I have known that I was not right? I think it has… — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share Image
“Now that she had the diagnosis to explain her sense of reality, she sorted some of the chaotic jumble of thoughts and memories. "I'd… — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share Image
“The accuracy of my memories, whether things happened exactly the way that the personalities remember, doesn't really matter. If my memory, combined with the memories of the other personalities, provides some coherent past, then that is far better than the blankness I have. Whatever inaccuracies may occur because of the passage of time or because of the colored intensity of… — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share
“I don't expect to have a fully verified story of how Jo's disorder developed, but I don't think that historical accuracy is as important as what I call "emotional truth." People attach different levels of significance to the same events. No two participants in any event remember it in exactly the same way. A single broken promise, for example, among… — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share
“I knew Lynn was a "professional." Like all of the therapists I had seen before her, she was talking to me because she was… — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share Image
“It's like I'm carrying around this huge secret that I'm never supposed to tell. But since I don't remember just what I'm supposed to… — Joan Frances Casey Copy Share Image
