Karen Sobanek Cioffi

Clear as Glass: A Mother's Journey of Letting Go Karen Sobanek Cioffi

Clear As Glass: A Mother's Journey of Letting Go is the memoir of a mother tested by three crises--teenage pregnancy, her son's mental illness, and his early death--while revealing how she learned both to love and let go of her son.

Raised in a neglectful and abusive home by alcoholic parents and a narcissistic mother who viewed her as competition, she had no parenting skills when she became a single mom at age nineteen who was also an alcoholic. After years of struggling, she was able to get sober, become a born-again Christian, and build a successful sales career. All these things helped her provide a stable home for her son Jason, who was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder at age fifteen. In spite of her achievements, she continued to mirror her mother in more ways than she realized. When her deepest heartbreak shakes her to the core, shock and sadness could have threatened her sobriety and relationship with God. She questioned whether she was a fraud as a mother and whether she deserved her son's love.

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:32)