Stephanie Romer is one of the oldest people in the world born and still living with half of her heart. Her memoir walks you through the first fourteen years of her life, filled with constant debilitating fear of not only doctors, but also Clip, an older neighborhood boy with sinister motives. Through her most sacred form of communication, writing, she invites you into her journey of survival.
She draws parallels between being traumatized by doctors and "the hospital life" to being easy prey of grooming and sexual abuse by predators. She hides behind masks while blindly navigating through a life of medical trauma, abuse, debilitating anxiety, depression, and black-out rage. The abuse and control directed her every decision.
The shadow of death from the ticking time-bomb in her chest haunts her every step of the way. After years of being given an expiration date, the girl became determined to take her life into her own hands. Facing everyday as if it's her last, she chases freedom by numbing her pain and seeking love and a sense of family from her closest friends.
"I have nothing to lose—might as well do some good while I'm around! That was my motto in life. I didn't care who you were: what size, age, or title you had. I wasn't scared of you. No punishment could have been worse than death's shadow constantly at my back, and Clip's sick fantasies acted out on me. Since I couldn't save myself—I would use my suppressed rage to save everyone else." -Stephanie Romer, Quieting The Clock