Living with PTSD A Story of Trauma Faith and Hope

A journey through PTSD is heavy, but love and faith can carry us through. The memoir shares our story of survival, resilience, and healing.

When Trauma Walks In

Trauma does not knock before it enters. It does not give you time to prepare. It simply arrives and life as you knew it changes in an instant. When my husband came home carrying the weight of PTSD neither of us could have imagined the road ahead. On the outside he looked strong but on the inside he carried wounds that no one could see.

PTSD became part of our daily lives. It showed up in sleepless nights in sudden silence in fears that came out of nowhere. It was not just his battle. It was ours.

The Daily Battle of PTSD

Living with PTSD is not a single moment. It is a daily fight. It is waking up after a night of nightmares and trying to find strength for the day. It is walking into a grocery store and scanning for exits because the crowd feels unsafe. It is hearing a sudden sound that pulls the past into the present.

I watched my husband carry that weight and I felt powerless. As his wife I wanted to fix it. I wanted to take away the pain. But PTSD is not something love alone can cure. It requires patience resilience and faith in the middle of brokenness.

Feeling Helpless but Choosing Faith

There were days when I cried in silence because I did not know what to do. There were nights when fear told me we would not make it. But faith whispered louder. Not faith in easy answers or quick fixes but faith that reminded me we were not alone.

Faith became my lifeline. Not because I felt strong but because I needed to believe there was strength beyond me. Even when my prayers were shaky and my heart was weary faith carried us through.

Smokey and the Gift of Hope on Four Paws

In the middle of our battle God sent us a little Shih Tzu named Smokey. Smokey was not trained as a service dog but his presence was healing in ways we never expected. On nights when fear gripped my husband Smokey curled close. On days when sadness lingered Smokey greeted us with joy that reminded us there was still light to hold on to.

Smokey carried hope on four paws. He reminded us to laugh when silence felt unbearable. He reminded us that love can still live in a home touched by trauma. He was not the cure but he was part of our healing.

The Resilience of My Husband

My husband’s journey with PTSD has been long and painful but it has also revealed a strength I never knew he carried. There were nights that could have broken him yet he continued to fight. He is not the same man he was before trauma but he is still here. He is still ours. And he is still loved.

Resilience is not about pretending you are fine. It is about standing up again after falling. It is about taking one more step when everything in you wants to give up. My husband has shown me what resilience looks like in the middle of fear.

Marriage Under the Shadow of PTSD

Marriage with PTSD is not easy. It tests your patience your love and your faith. There were times when the weight of it felt like too much. But love whispered louder than fear. And so we stayed. We held on when walking away might have felt easier.

Our marriage is not perfect. It carries scars. But those scars are proof that we endured. They are reminders that even when trauma tried to break us love kept us standing.

More Than a Battle This Is Our Story

PTSD is part of our story but it is not the whole story. Our story is about survival. It is about a family held together by love shaken by trauma but carried by faith. It is about finding joy again in small moments. It is about remembering that scars do not mean the end. They mean survival.

Final Thoughts

Living with PTSD is messy and unpredictable but it is not the end of the story. There is still love. There is still hope. There is still healing even if it comes slowly.

I have written more of this journey in my memoirs true accounts of trauma faith and survival. What began as a story about our little dog Smokey has grown into a testimony of resilience and healing.

Read our memoirs: Smokey The Little Dog That Saved Us and Love That Never Let Go

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