Calhoun farmer writes book about finding hope in struggles
Jul. 3—Calhoun farm owner Brittany Foe hopes to help others by sharing the highs and lows of her life in a new book, "A Fairy Tale Through My Eyes."
The book is a combination of two works she previously wrote — the 2017 book, also titled "A Fairy Tale Through My Eyes," and the 2019 book "Beyond the Fairytale." Additions reflect recent experiences with her family — husband Aaron, 5-year-old son Blane and 4-year-old daughter Maddilynn — along with maturity in her writing style, said Foe, 28.
"It was actually out of boredom that I combined them," she said. "I had actually just finished reading a series, and I didn't have any other books in the house that I could read, so I was like, 'Well, I guess I'll just start typing on this.' "
Foe said she has always written in some capacity — short stories and "paragraphs that kind of flowed together" — but nothing that she anticipated to make a career out of.
"It's been more of a hobby rather than an aspiration," she said.
The book details the challenges Foe faced after being diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSD) in 2008, a chronic pain condition that triggers the sympathetic nervous system.
"(It) essentially makes your brain misfire pain signals constantly," she said. "I was in sixth grade when that started, (and) it took two years for a diagnosis. The beginning of the book kind of covers that and is trying to spread awareness because it's not a well-known disease, although it has been around since the Civil War era."
While the book talks about some of the struggles that she and her family faced, she says the term "fairytale" is appropriate, based on her thoughts and interpretations of similar narratives.
"When I read a story that is a fairytale, you can't have a fairytale without some evil," she said. "RSD is essentially that evil in my fairytale because it is so unknown and brings such a shadow that tries to consume my life."
Foe also describes the miscarriage of her first child, Riley, with her husband Aaron, before giving birth to their "rainbow baby" Blane despite being told that the chance of getting pregnant was slim due to the medications she was taking for RSD.
Foe gave birth to Blane at 27 weeks, and he required a stay in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU).
"Before that, I never heard stories about the NICU, and I think all of these instances are kind of held secret almost because they are private; and I feel like that if I can put that out there, it might be able to help somebody," Foe said. "Whether it be giving them some sense of 'I'm not alone' or some sense of comfort."
The book also features the family's journey of getting the farm they live on in Calhoun, and the journey of Blane and Maddilynn to where they are now.
Foe wants readers to know that struggling is a part of life that can be embraced.
"I personally hold myself to a high level, and I feel like it's OK to struggle because we don't stay there," she said. "You don't struggle for long.
"I was once there struggling and being so down on myself that it was like, 'I'm stuck. I'm here,' but that's because I told myself that I was here; and then I would stay there. When you have that revelation I'm only here because I said I was here, when you give yourself that permission to be OK — that's when things change."
For more information on Foe's book, visit amazon.com/Fairy-Tale-Through-Eyes/dp/B0B2THRPS2.
