This week on the Curiosity & Consciousness podcast, I’m joined by husband & wife, Molly Weisgram & Chris Maxwell.
Molly is the author of The Other Side of Us: A Memoir of Trauma, Truth, and Transformation, a beautifully crafted story about their young family that faces the unimaginable, a sudden and traumatic health crisis. Molly’s husband Chris becomes a quadriplegic on a ventilator in a matter of days with no promise of a full recovery. When it seems all is lost, they begin the eventual climb to a new life.
In The Other Side of Us, Molly takes readers to the depths of calamity and to the heights of restoration. Molly earned her undergraduate degrees in English and Psychology and her master’s degree in Communication Studies from the University of South Dakota. She studied with the Centers for Spiritual Living and graduated from its Spiritual Practitioner Program in 2017.
The Other Side of Us is Molly’s debut book. She lives in Fort Pierre, South Dakota, with her husband Chris Maxwell and their four children: Benjamin, Samuel, Isaac and Hannah. In addition to her children’s laughter, Molly’s favourite things include soul searching, nature, and happy hour. She believes life is not about disease but about recovery.
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I loved connecting with Molly & Chris for this episode and hearing their story. I think they are an amazing couple, and I love their capacity to be totally vulnerable with each other; something I’m sure has helped them to grow from this unexpected challenge.
On Valentine’s day 2019, Chris was diagnosed unexpectedly with a rare autoimmune disease. Within a week, he was quadriplegic and on a ventilator. The family were unsure of the whether he would recover or not. Their world was turned upside down.
Despite this shock and crisis, Molly said to Chris once he was conscious, that this was going to be the best thing that ever happened to them. Their life now was about, how to make good of the second chance they got.
It was so interesting to hear their experience from each of their perspective. From Chris’s point of view, he had to learn to let go. He was losing control and he had to surrender to what was happening, while Molly had to take control and figure out how to hold it all together, take care of their young children, and be an advocate for Chris.
Chris shared how when trauma strikes, you ‘show up with what you got’, and he was so grateful that both himself and Molly, were aware of, and had worked on their mindset, and knew the power of their thoughts, in the years previous to Chris’ crisis. They both said this helped them no end in their ability to respond to what was happening.
There is so much in this conversation and it is so inspiring, that I think you will get a lot from it!
Listen to the full episode on your platform of choice (some links below), and be sure to subscribe & share the podcast with others!
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