Sixty: The Hidden Years

Sixty:The Hidden Years, is at once a look back on a life of fear, hospitalizations, abuse, eating disorders, mental illness, and the wrenching attempt to make change. It tells of a life unraveled, hidden, disoriented and cruel. It speaks to an indomitable spirit not quashed, nor ruined, as it weaves the history of a woman from early childhood to the age of sixty. It is a book, in the end, about courage, understanding and acceptance.

This candid memoir looks back, from the perspective of a woman's sixtieth year, on a life woven through hospitalizations, mental illness, eating disorders, abuse and rape. It recounts and exposes a tremulous life of hiding and fear, always questioning her sanity, her place in this world. It tells of a life unraveled, hidden, disoriented and cruel. It threads through a quilt of chaos and the inability to well cope. It speaks of pain held deep within and not allowed to be expressed or known by others, or even herself, and the wrenching changes needed to navigate through to the years past sixty. It is a book, in the end, about courage, understanding and acceptance. "I have lived on the edge, not insane, not incapable, not lost, even as I struggle with everyday interactions. I have lived a life of hiding, and I cannot say that has ended, rather I can say that at age sixty I understand the need to be the adult who can traverse these waters, and I understand that ripples do not mean a tsunami with its inherent catastrophic outcome, but rather gentler swells allowing expansion into the unknown and an exposure to other people, no matter how I may fear them or worry over their judgment."

Micah Keeley is a freelance writer, poet, commercial illustrator, photographer and graphic artist. She is a native of Santa Cruz, California, where she lives with her husband, a local musician and artist. She is also an avid horsewoman and volunteers for equine rescue and rehabilitation.