Surviving My Life

A Memoir of Resilience, Reflection, and Strength

What happens when a bright, sensitive child grows up without the emotional tools she needs to understand her own pain?

In Surviving My Life, Phyllis Cryor Johnson shares her deeply personal journey from a childhood marked by unrecognized depression to an adulthood shaped by emotional hardship, single motherhood, and the relentless search for healing.

Married young and determined to build a stable family, Phyllis believed in the promise of lifelong partnership. But as her marriage deteriorated and her mental health suffered, she faced a painful truth: survival sometimes requires walking away from what you once prayed would last forever.

With three children to protect and little financial security, she rebuilt her life step by step-confronting depression, seeking therapy, and refusing to allow her circumstances to define her future. What began as survival became transformation.

From navigating poverty and late-night bus rides to earning her Bachelor's degree, Master of Social Work, and ultimately a PhD, Phyllis forged a new path grounded not in trauma, but in strength.

Honest, reflective, and deeply inspiring, Surviving My Life is a powerful testament to resilience, maternal devotion, and the courage it takes to reclaim your life-one decision at a time.

This memoir is for anyone who has faced adversity, questioned their worth, or wondered if change is possible. It is a reminder that survival is not the end of the story-it is the beginning of becoming.