A disability can shape the way a person moves through the world, but does it always have to define what they are capable of? In The Silent Fortress, author Tracy explores that question through the story of her own life. Born deaf and raised in environments that often misunderstood her, Tracy spent years being treated … Read more
Some walls are easy to see. They are made of brick, concrete or steel. Others are harder to recognize because they exist inside us, built from fear, rejection, trauma, misunderstanding and years of learning to protect ourselves. That is the idea at the heart of Tracy’s memoir, The Silent Fortress. Throughout the book, Tracy returns … Read more
Resilient people are often described as strong, fearless, or impossible to break. From the outside, it can seem as though they simply endured difficult experiences and carried on. What is rarely seen is the pain they carried while doing it. Resilience does not mean something did not hurt. It does not mean the person forgot … Read more
Imagine greeting someone and receiving no response. You might assume they are ignoring you. You may think they are unfriendly, dismissive, or rude. But what if they simply did not hear you? For many deaf people, moments like this happen regularly. Someone speaks from behind them, calls their name across a room, or asks a … Read more
Behind every memoir is a person who made the difficult decision to revisit experiences that would have been easier to leave buried. Tracy Mawson, the woman behind The Silent Fortress, does not present her life as a neat story of suffering followed by perfect healing. Her journey is more complicated, more personal, and far more … Read more
Childhood rejection can leave wounds that remain long after a person has grown up. When a child is made to feel unwanted, misunderstood, or unworthy of care, those messages often become part of how they see themselves. They may enter adulthood believing they must earn affection, remain silent to avoid conflict, or accept mistreatment because … Read more