Dani's Breakthrough Story
Before the shift, I wasn’t self aware of anything, it seems. I drank on random nights of the week. I ate basic, simple yet shitty foods. I partied a lot. I ran a business, eventually, after trying SO MANY DIFFERENT JOBS. I had a lot of sex, opened up my relationship, tried a lot of things and was quite the deviant. I smoked a lot of weed. I was quick to anger, didn’t admit when I was wrong, acted righteous and didn’t take much responsibility for my actions. I was cruising, like on autopilot. I didn’t look forward to future much, I didn’t like planning beyond 9 months, so committing to things wasn’t part of my character. I wanted kids around mid 20’s, then after I got married I felt that feeling fall away. I was very sexual and sensual, I often thought maybe I had a sex addiction. I shopped a lot, I was obsessed with buying clothes and stuff. I used any product, without a care for the ingredients. I wasn’t aware of the state of politics, the government or the world at large, even though I had travelled to 25+ countries, I also barely remembered my trips (I attribute this to drinking). CRISIS: In 2013, a short flight to Florida marked the beginning of an unexpected unraveling for a young woman who thought she was simply going to say goodbye to her beloved grandfather. What awaited her was not just the end of a life, but the collapse of a family system — and the innocence of her own heart. The visit begins tenderly enough, steeped in nostalgia for the home that once symbolized warmth, safety, and childhood joy. But the moment her grandfather — frail, bleeding, and confused — answers the door, she crosses an invisible threshold. The man she adores is dying, and the family she thought she knew begins to fracture before her eyes. As she helps care for her grandfather in his final days, long-buried tensions surface. Once-loving aunts turn hostile, twisting grief into accusation and control. In the chaos of his dying, they weaponize loyalty, manipulate her grandmother — slipping into dementia — and force her and her mother out of the home. When she returns to say goodbye, she’s met with locked doors, shuttered blinds, and a grandmother who looks at her like a stranger. Still, she pushes through for one final moment with the man who taught her love, strength, and presence.