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🔍 Episode Summary:

What if the stories we’ve buried hold the power to heal us? In this deeply personal and moving conversation, Brian D. Smith speaks with Kennerly Clay, author of Letters from East of Nowhere, about the long road to forgiveness, the wounds of parental abandonment, and the unexpected redemption found in decades of handwritten letters.

Kennerly’s father, an alcoholic and long-haul truck driver, was largely absent from her life. But through raw honesty, early sobriety, and years of storytelling, she found a way to forgive—and even to love—the man who shaped her pain.

💬 This episode explores:

• The power of writing to reclaim your narrative 🖋️
• How forgiveness frees us, even when others don’t change 🕊️
• Rediscovering lost love through preserved letters 💌
• Turning personal trauma into a purposeful message 🌈

You’ll walk away with a new lens on your own past—and perhaps the courage to look at it with more compassion.

👤 Guest: Kennerly Clay

Kennerly is a memoirist, speaker, and storytelling strategist helping others transform personal pain into powerful purpose. Her memoir Letters from East of Nowhere: Daddy’s Words to Live, Drink, and Die By is available now.

🔗 Learn more & get the book: https://lettersfromeastofnowhere.com

🔗 Links & Resources

• 💻 Visit our community: grief2growth.com/community
• 📘 Get Letters from East of Nowhere: lettersfromeastofnowhere.com
• 🎧 Subscribe on YouTube: Grief 2 Growth Channel
• 📬 Join Brian’s newsletter: grief2growth.com

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💭 We Want to Hear From You

What’s one story from your past you’ve learned to see in a new light?

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