Q&A With Christina H. Wilson 

I am so grateful to Jen Musico Dixon for connecting me with Christina H. Wilson for this Q&A and sending me an early copy of her memoir Believe: A Memoir In Stories. You won’t want to miss out on this memoir. Believe: A Memoir In Stories will be available on July 9th! Christina also has a podcast titled Sisterhood Through Grief. 

Q: Christina, would you please give a brief description of Believe: A Memoir In Stories for those who haven’t read the memoir?

A:  Like in the title, my book is made up of stories that impacted my life.  I view them as life lessons that helped me evolve to the person I am now and will continue to become.  I have had a somewhat sensational and eventful life in which I believe all that has happened, has been for a reason.  From having a life of riches to losing everything, grieving to finding love, and so much more, these are the stories.  People say that things happen “to” us, but I like to think that things happen “for” us…to teach and guide us to change.  The stories I wrote about in my memoir are of unconditional love, hope, resilience, and self-discovery.

Q: How long did it take you to write Believe A Memoir In Stories, & why is now the right time to write and release it? Since you believe in a higher power like many of us do, did you feel as though you were being called to write this memoir of your journey?

A:  I started writing these stories about 20 years ago for my young boys after their father passed away.  I always thought that the stories would be for them and their eyes only, as I have always been a very private person.  Now 20 years later and with 3 more children, I continued to write my stories with the hopes that all my kids would someday read them and hopefully learn the lessons that I convey through the stories.  After seeing how our podcast has helped so many people I will never know, I thought I should share my stories to potentially help people I may never know…the butterfly effect.  

I find it very auspicious that my stories would become a book now as it is the year of the Wood Dragon and I was born in the year of the Wood Dragon.  This only comes around every 60 years, so for my book to be given its life as I was given my life 60 years ago is incredible.  I believe the time is right for my stories to be told and hope that they can bring about feelings of hope, inner-strength, spirituality, unconditional love, and self-discovery to my readers.

Q: You’re an excellent writer Christina and I felt as though I were with you when you were going through your ups and downs and having your spiritual experiences. Which parts in the novel did you have a great time reminiscing about? Which parts were the most difficult to rehash? 

A:  Thank you for your nice sentiment.  Yes, my life has been quite a rollercoaster ride.  I could write a whole book on my spiritual experiences.  In the past, I would only tell people, who I knew held my same beliefs, my stories because I know how sensational they can sound.  But I have found that these are the stories that so many people are captivated by and love to talk about.  One of the popular episodes of our podcast Sisterhood Through Grief is the episode called Signs.  So, I did enjoy sharing some of my spiritual stories.  The difficult one to rehash was the story about Willis.  I was young and never dealt with death before.  To see how courageously and dignified Willis was and the love he exuded, to this day it is an emotional story for me to convey.

Q: What lessons do you hope readers learn after they finish reading Believe A Memoir In Stories?  For me, I was reminded that everything that happens in life both good and bad, happens for a reason & even if we wish we made different choices or done things differently, they get us to where we are at now. Part of life’s journey is that we grow and sometimes that’s through trial and error and we can learn from that to make us better. I also am a firm believer in a higher power. For me it is the God of my Catholic faith. 

A:  I hope that my readers can walk away with the feelings of faith and understanding that everything happens for a reason and for you personally.  If you look back at your life you can usually see why something happened and how that event led to the change in you.  Having faith or the belief in a God or Creator can provide one with the strength you need to get through the darkest of days.  Truly believing that you are not alone is powerful.  

If there was one piece of advice, I could tell someone who has lost a loved one, it would be to always take baby-steps forward.  You don’t “move-on” like so many people say, but rather are meant to “move-forward” in your life.  Sometimes it is a struggle, and you can’t take a baby-step forward, so honor that and have grace on yourself, but do not get stuck.  Make every effort to that baby-step forward the next day and after time you will look back and see how far you have come.

Q: Do you plan on writing another memoir which will be a sequel to Believe A Memoir In Stories, a different topic, or will you try your hand at writing fiction this time?

A:  Right now, I don’t have plans for another memoir.  I would love for one of my children to write their story as a blended family, which would be full of laughter, hardships, and lots of love.  If I were to write another book, I would probably write a book on grief, something like our podcast, Sisterhood Through Grief.

Q: How do your family & friends feel about you being honest in your memoir? I bet they are all so proud of you and the woman you have become & keep growing into! We both know growth is a lifelong process. 

A:  I am blessed with the most loving and supportive village made up of my family and friends.  It is this village that has provided me with the courage to take a chance at something different, whether that was dating my current husband, Harold Dawson Jr., or being totally open with my life and publishing my memoir.  My family has always been and is still very proud of me and what I have lived through and evolved in to.  At 60 years of age, I hope that I continue to grow and evolve every day.  I believe that life is a journey with lots of swerves and obstacles, but if you stay on the road that you are meant to, you will become who you are destined to be.

Q: Would you like to tell the readers of the blog and I a bit about your podcast Sisterhood Through Grief? What made you want to start this podcast and what is your advice for anyone wanting to start one? If you like, please post the link to the podcast here. 

A:  I was fortunate to have been a part of a life-changing grief support group called Hearts and Hope back in 2003.  During the pandemic, I was getting calls from people I knew who had lost their spouses and had nowhere to go to grieve.  I contacted 5 of the women who were in my support group and had remained dear friends of mine and asked them if they thought we could conduct a grief support-group on a podcast.  We decided to record our “sessions” or episodes on Zoom, so we could see and speak to one another.  Each episode we discuss one topic like we would during our group therapy.  We now have 27 episodes recorded.  The episode provide our listeners with validation of their feelings, hope, advice, and strength like we were so fortunate to receive during our time in our group.  Because we all speak from our own experiences and not as a therapist or grief expert, I think the podcast is very relatable and helpful to anyone going through the journey of grief.  The podcast is streaming on most platforms at sisterhood through grief or you can also go to my website (christinahwilson.com) to listen to the episodes.

Apple:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sisterhood-through-grief/id565231497

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0w3M6MX59foHOy1vWg6NST

Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNzY4Mzk0LnJzcw==

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/sisterhood-through-grief

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f694911e-08fa-48e8-a683-f5ea19f640fb

TuneinRadio: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Health–Wellness-Podcasts/Sisterhood-Through-Grief-p1426870/

iHeartRadio:   https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-sisterhood-through-grief-81713777/  

Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/show/2581092

Podcast Addict: https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/3322286

Listen Notes: https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/sisterhood-through-grief-letters-to-heaven-LsGnoSU70rT/

Podchaser: https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/sisterhood-through-grief-1852004

Podcast Index: https://podcastindex.org/podcast/3422668

Player.fm: https://player.fm/series/sisterhood-through-grief

PockerCasts: https://pca.st/n2sibpu

Castro: https://castro.fm/podcast/d0a7bfe4-1ae6-47da-b2ec-75c0fc023ce1