MIDDLETON, Wis.–Christopher Morris, who has held a number of positions with national CU organizations since joining the CU community in 2005, has published his first book, which chronicles his tumultuous teenage years.
“We Are All Made of Scars” also highlights the rarely seen effects of his mother’s alcoholism and binge drinking on his family, according to Morris, who began writing the book in 2015.
Morris said part of the inspiration for the book was realizing how much he yearned for a “normal” life after enduring his own hardships as a teen but then coming to find out later so many other people had difficult upbringings as well.
“I grew up afraid or ashamed to tell anyone my story, even into adulthood,” said Morris. “Over time, I met people with stories so similar to mine or different stories of struggle and perseverance. You truly never really know what other people are going through. My goal is that people find they aren’t as alone as they think, along with some strength and hope through my journey.”
According to Morris, another reason for writing the book was to give a "peek behind the curtain" for a better understanding of alcoholism and its effects on those closest to the disease.
The ‘Underbelly’
“Drinking a lot in the Midwest, especially Wisconsin, is glamorized quite often,” said Morris. “Responsible drinking is wonderful and I practice that, but I also wanted to show the underbelly of alcoholism and its effect on family members, such as myself as a teenager. That’s a story not often told, if at all.”
The new book is available as a paperback and eBook on Amazon.com here.
A portion of the proceeds of the book are being donated to alcoholism treatment centers and Al-Anon groups in Madison, Morris said.
Still Free in ’23! The Freshest CU Headlines. Right to Your Inbox.
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free in ’23! Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more.
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?