July 9, 2025 • 48 mins
Sara Im shares her harrowing experiences during the Cambodian genocide and the inspiration behind her book. She recounts life before and after the communist regime, her evacuation, and concentration camp struggles. Sara discusses her escape plan, challenges faced, and reuniting with family post-war. She reflects on immigrating to the U.S. and crossing the Thai border. The conversation emphasizes global awareness, the healing power of writing, and hopeful narratives in her anthology. The episode concludes with the value of sharing personal stories, her book's availability, speaking engagements, and contact information.
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(00:00):
Welcome back.
Or if this is your first time, welcome toreading between the words podcast.
This is where we dive into the spaces betweenthe words, which is where meaning and wisdom
stirs.
Join us as we open the door between the pageand the person.
You'll hear the heart of the author, thepurpose behind the book, and the transformation
to ignite your life or your business.
Hi.
(00:20):
Welcome to reading between the words podcast.
And today, we have Sarah M here, and Sarah hasthe most incredible story to tell.
Sarah, tell us a little bit about who you areand what you do.
Sure.
My pleasure.
My name is Sarah I'm I am the author of thebook.
(00:45):
It's called how I survive the killing fields.
Now I I speak, talk about my book, and toinspire my audience.
And I also do some coaching and also do someevent organizing wellness event organizer.
(01:07):
Thank you.
That's awesome.
Awesome.
So I know everybody is ready to hear about yourbook.
You gave such a wise and and intriguing introto it a little bit on wisdom on the front porch
podcast.
And but today, we're gonna really just focus onthe book and what was going on with it.
(01:32):
So can you for those that are watching, can youshow us the book and explain to us again what
the title is called?
Yes.
This is the book, and the title is called How ISurvive the Killing Fields, story of hope,
love, and determination.
(01:54):
Nice.
Nice.
And that's a picture of you on the front cover.
Correct?
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So give us a little synopsis of the book forthose that that hadn't seen our podcast on on
Wisdom on the Front porch yet.
Tell them tell them what no.
(02:15):
We'll just start.
What's the killing fields, and and what is thebook really about?
The killing field is is the the thecircumstance that happened in Cambodia back in
1975 for four years when the communist regimetook over Cambodia.
(02:42):
They mistreat people so badly that they end upkilling a lot of people.
They miss through their mistreat or theirexecution and punishment.
So there are about two million people that dieduring that four years period.
(03:03):
And my my book is about my journey goingthrough that time period, how I make it through
and how I was, separated from my my family fora whole four years without knowing what
happened to each other.
(03:24):
Yeah.
And about how old were you then?
I was 21.
21.
Just getting started in your life.
Yes.
Yeah.
That had to really be scary to go through that,especially all on your own, not having your
family there.
(03:45):
Yes.
It is.
Yeah.
When when something bad like that happen, if weare close to our family, at least we have each
other.
But in my case, I was not with my family.
Yeah.
So so you're about 21 years of age.
(04:06):
What was life like before the communist regimetook over?
What what were you doing?
Before the communist took over well, I live inthe in the a village.
It's in the province.
(04:28):
Mhmm.
A city that is smaller than the capital city.
And my mom had a an accident, and she becameparalyzed for four years before before I left
to.
(04:50):
So I was a caregiver for my mom during the thattime that she was disabled.
And that time was the time that help us to wellhave a strong relationship.
So mom and I, we become very close because wewe go through challenging time together, and
(05:17):
and that's helped me to remember the most that,you know, we struggle together, but we make it
through.
And then four years later, she was able to walkagain.
And that just about about the time that Igraduate from high school, and I need to go on
(05:41):
to college.
And college is not in the province.
It's in the capital city.
So I left my family in the province and went topursue college education.
And when the communist Cameroons took overCambodia, I got stuck.
(06:04):
Got stuck in the capital city.
I cannot come home because they shut down thistransportation.
There's no no bus, no airplane, no post office.
I could not even write a letter to let myparents go.
(06:26):
No.
So so you didn't know what would happen tothem, and they didn't know what was happening
to you?
That's correct.
And so so there you are.
You're at school.
This takeover happens.
And and what happened next?
(06:48):
When they took over, Cambodia, they shut downthe whole country.
I mean, the complete shutdown.
They they shut down the school, themarketplace, the bank, the hospital,
everything.
And then nothing open.
(07:11):
So that mean if you need to buy food, there'sno food to to buy.
There's no place to go.
Nobody sell anything.
So it was tough for That is a lot of peopleduring COVID, but this is way worse than that.
There's you know, they were supposed todistance and but at least we could still go get
(07:37):
get groceries and and stuff.
You can't even do that because there's nothingto get.
Yes.
How did you survive?
Well, we struggle to survive.
They they don't just shut down the city.
They don't just shut down the country.
(07:58):
They evacuate.
They move people around the country.
So they come door to door and point gun at usand demand us to leave right away.
So go.
Go.
So we left everything behind.
We just walked away with nothing.
(08:19):
And I mean, with nothing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we we keep walking.
The road was so crowded as as you can imagine.
Hundreds and thousands of people live in thecity, and we all get out together on foot on
(08:41):
foot.
Now were you able to choose where you went, ordid they tell you where to go?
We can go anywhere we want.
Okay.
But I don't know where to go because I'm prettynew in this city.
(09:02):
I don't know how your direction.
But I was fortunate to have my uncle.
I have an uncle who live in the suburb of thecity, and I was able to find him just before
they took over the country.
So I was I was with my uncle and his family.
(09:27):
So that gave me a little bit of comfort.
Yeah.
Yes.
So I am so grateful for that.
But but your story doesn't stop there.
You actually end up in, like, a concentrationcamp.
(09:48):
How did that happen?
Yeah.
As we walk away from the city, we end up in theremote village far away from the city.
We stopped there temporary, and then they theytransport us to different places that they want
(10:10):
to put people in because some place, they'reenough people.
In some place, it's too crowded.
So they distribute.
And the way they did it, they asked forvolunteer if anybody want to move to a certain
province, and they they mentioned the provincethat my parent lived.
(10:34):
So when that happened, I hear I heard it, and Iwant to go.
You know, anything get me closer to my family.
So I register, and they transport us throughthe bus to the the boat and to the the train.
And and then when they they they drop us, theydrop us in the middle of nowhere.
(11:01):
Oh, wow.
It's it's it's now to where my parent live.
No.
I was so disappointed.
But but at least I have my uncle, and we we gotogether.
(11:22):
My uncle gave up anything to make sure that heaccompany me and I made sure that he protected
me.
Wow.
He he was so kind, so loving.
But
my goal to pursue my way to go back home waskeep going keep going.
(11:50):
And and then later on, there was anannouncement that they want single men and
women to to move to us to some place to gettrained so that we can go out and help out the
the village nearby.
So when I heard that, I said, oh, that might bean opportunity for me to travel a little bit,
(12:17):
and maybe I can go to my hometown.
That's my my thinking.
Well, it did not happen that way.
I I register, and they took us to the placethat they want us, and it's that is a a
(12:38):
working.
Oh,
wow.
There there was a thousand of us.
1,000 single men and women isolated from thevillage, and they put us to work.
We just went works work very long hours.
(13:00):
We received very little food.
No time to rest seven days a week, fifteenhours a day, and no rest.
No not enough sleep.
So we end up getting sick.
Yeah.
Now you were working in the rice fields.
Is that right?
(13:21):
Out there under the hot sun bent over becauseyou can't get down on your hands and knees
really.
You've gotta be pulling that rice out of thewet, soggy ground, and it's hot.
It's humid.
You've got the sun reflecting off the water,and and you're not getting the nourishment you
need.
You're not getting the water to drink that.
(13:43):
Wow.
No.
So you ended up getting sick.
What happened?
Well, when we got sick, we still gonna have togo to work.
If we don't work, we don't have anything toeat.
Wow.
Yeah.
I have to force myself to go to work.
(14:05):
You know?
And my sickness is start with malaria.
Oh.
Yeah.
Malaria is like a high fever, and then theychill, and it's extreme.
Like, when you chill, you cannot controlyourself.
(14:26):
So high fever and chill and then the no noissues.
Mhmm.
And then I have other condition on top ofmalaria, and it's miserable.
I have to go to work every day until when I gottoo sick, I can't go anymore, and they send me
(14:51):
to an infirmary.
I call it infirmary.
They said it's the hospital.
It's it's it's the hospital without doctor.
Without doctor, without nurse, withoutmedication.
So, I call it an infirmary.
(15:14):
It's it's like a hospice.
It's the place where you just wait until timeto die.
Oh, wow.
Obviously, you didn't die.
Obviously, no.
I didn't I didn't stay in there for longbecause I realized a lot of people are sick,
(15:35):
and they have different sickness.
And and mice my immune system was so weak.
I can I I can contract more disease?
Wow.
So when I realized that I was I was praying,because I don't know what else to do.
(15:59):
I don't want to stay in there.
But if I don't stay, I I'm too sick to work.
I don't know what to do.
So I pray.
I I ask God to help me.
I don't know much about God, but I realizedthere is it must be God out there.
(16:19):
Yeah.
He's he see everything, and that's what I'mpraying.
I'm praying for the biggest God out there thatknow everything.
So so after praying for many nights, onemorning when I woke up, I I realized, oh, I had
(16:42):
a little bit of energy today.
Maybe maybe I sneak out.
So I snuck out.
And Just thundered here.
Startled me.
Okay.
(17:02):
So so you snuck out.
And what happened?
I snuck out.
I went back to where the work work camp is, andone young team leader saw me coming, and she
she's a kind person.
(17:24):
Thanks.
She's the one that come from the city just likeme, but she's stronger, and she had a job as
the team leader.
When she saw me coming, she she she called me,and she said, alright.
Well, you can stay in my group.
Maybe I can help you.
(17:47):
And she realized that I'm so sick.
I need more help.
So she was able to go to talk to the people inthe kitchen and ask them to see if they can use
my help.
So they say, yeah.
Yeah.
She can come and and help out.
So there's no and god answered my prayer.
(18:12):
And so I was in the kitchen.
Imagine, as sick as I was, if I was not workingin the kitchen, I cannot endure working in the
right field again.
No.
God was so good.
And You must have had was there food availableto you working in the kitchen?
(18:37):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, okay.
Good.
Yeah.
I have a little bit, extra food, and work inthe shade in less hour.
Yeah.
So you're starting to heal.
I start to heal.
So, eventually, I feel much better.
(19:03):
Good.
Good.
But the story doesn't stop there.
No.
No.
They don't they don't let me stay there toolong because when they see me look better, feel
better, they pull me out and throw me back intothe right field again.
Oh, wow.
(19:24):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I start to struggle again.
So on and off, on and off, I was sick and I gotbetter.
I was sick and got better.
And finally, I I can do it for four years.
(19:45):
Wow.
Yeah.
And so after four years, they they moved thecamp.
They moved us away from that location.
They moved us closer closer to the jungle.
(20:06):
So
Oh, wow.
So you're away from your family.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So when I realized that we are going moving tothe jungle, I I know that it's not good not a
good sign.
So that's when I start start looking for waysto escape.
(20:29):
Oh, wow.
What happened to people when they try toescape?
If they get caught, they will be shot.
Got shot.
My goodness.
So you're willing to risk getting shot to getback to your family and get away from there?
Oh, man.
Yeah.
(20:49):
Yeah.
There there's a very hard choice.
You know?
I I don't have easy choice.
No.
Now where was your uncle during all of this?
Do you have any idea?
My uncle passed away during this time.
Oh.
Yeah.
(21:09):
Yeah.
So he did not make it through.
That's harsh.
So I know there's a little bit in your book youwant to read to us.
Now we have a good time.
Let's let's do that.
Yeah.
I wanna wanna hear the rest.
(21:29):
I wanna hear about your escape, but but let's
let's look your book.
I I thought this short chapter, very shortchapter Okay.
Short chapter, it's, it's about during the timethat we all struggle.
(21:54):
Okay.
During that that four year period, talk about areflection.
I thought about it's at nighttime.
What what did we do at nighttime when we arerestless, when we are hungry, when when we
could not sleep, we are too tired.
(22:16):
So let's see.
At least one year passed, and the memory of mypast almost disappear.
I couldn't remember the name of my friends in.
I couldn't recall the many marketplace businesspeople mom had taught me to do to do business
(22:43):
with nor could I recall the name of myprofessor from the college in.
Was it amnesia, or was it some otherunspecified disease?
I had lost track.
(23:03):
My shelter drastically had returned in in a rehad reduced in numbers.
However, we forged a closer friendship ascommitted ourselves to comfort and heal each
other.
(23:23):
During the many restless nights, we lay thereweak and hungry, talking in harsh tone under
the darkness of the night.
Some night, we related in explicit details themanner of how the proper how to prepare our
(23:51):
favorite foods.
Some wishes and hope that this discussion wouldcurb needy appetite.
At other time, we share about our idealsynchronic sync syncretic village with culture.
(24:19):
We felt much better when we allowed our mind towander into places that would be plash pleasant
reminders of our distant past.
Although we all endure painful and difficultnight, We ease our circumstance by sharing
(24:46):
memory of our unique traditional cultural andsocietal way.
This experience seemingly wealth us together.
Our vivid imagination entertains us.
(25:06):
The thought of hunger was immediately erasedfrom my mind when we spoke of my favorite food
and how the various recipe different fromvillage to village.
So that's how we entertain ourselves at night.
(25:30):
Yeah.
That's it it brings back memories of when I wasdoing our family history, and my grandfather
was at Andersonville Prison.
And they too had horrible living conditions.
Very the food was not good.
(25:53):
They would give them corn, but it was the wholecorn, the husk, the cob, everything just all
ground up.
And that's what they had to eat.
And I remember, reading in the Harper, magazinethat, I think it was called Harper Weekly, that
the doctor testified that if they would havegiven them the corn itself, not the husk, not
(26:17):
the cob, then they would have been muchhealthier.
But because they ground it all together, Imean, it was it was so hard.
So I'm not not making light of your situation,but it kinda gave me a little understanding of
of the endurance you had to go through.
(26:40):
We have so much in our world.
It's easy.
You know?
If we don't have something, we just run to thestore and get it.
You know?
If we want pizza, we order it on the phone, andand it's here.
Yeah.
It's yeah.
Sometimes it's difficult to understand the whattrue hunger is like.
(27:03):
You know?
What it what it's what it's like to have towork in those conditions and be so weak.
We can only speculate and and try to imagineourselves there through your story.
So let's let's not leave it at that.
Let's talk a little bit about your escapebecause that brought up something else that
(27:31):
that I think was just unfathomable.
But but go ahead and talk a little bit aboutyour escape.
How how did you have the courage to do thatwhen you knew that you could get shot?
Well, when I thought about if I cannot find myfamily, my life doesn't have any meaning
(27:58):
anymore because that's my goal is to be back tothe family.
So I I rather rather die than than living withhopelessness like that.
Right.
So I yeah.
So I decided to get a three good friend, askthem to see if they would like to escape with
(28:22):
me.
And the the reason why I need a friend is thatI was so afraid because I was sick on and off
on and off, really.
And if I have friend to go with me, you know,at least I have some support.
So so that's how I did it, and we wait untilnighttime.
(28:45):
At night, the guard will have a hard timeseeing us.
So it's easy for us to to, you know, sneak out.
So that's how we deal with that at nighttime.
Wow.
Yeah.
But the nighttime is also give us a verydisadvantage because we cannot see.
(29:07):
We don't know where to go.
And you're not in a place that you know whatit's like.
You've never been there before.
You're you've got snakes and bugs and wildanimals.
Who knows what out there?
And Yeah.
Wow.
That just takes a different type of courage.
(29:28):
Yes.
Yeah.
But the power of love, the love for our familycan give us so much courage.
Yes.
So Yeah.
Yeah.
So we decided to wait until nighttime, and wewe didn't.
We didn't, and they did not see us.
(29:52):
We keep running and walking, running andwalking and a whole night long.
And then you choose which direction to go?
Well, we don't really know, but we just look atthe path that we came, and we just trashed
(30:13):
trace back where we came from.
Okay.
Yeah.
Try to trace back.
So Yeah.
Wow.
So so you finally do reach a village.
You reach some place.
Yeah.
Yes.
We we got out of their their captivity andreached the village.
(30:38):
And finally, we asked people for direction togo to my hometown, and we keep follow direction
and keep walking walking.
Wow.
And finally, we got we got to my hometown, andwhen we got there, I did not find the home.
(30:59):
The home was destroyed.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
So where was your family?
My family was not there.
So I was looking around, and finally, I trackedthem down there and found them.
Yeah.
Wow.
Wow.
Now this story has another twist to it, which Ijust it just is incredible.
(31:26):
You get out, and you found out the war hadalready been over, that you should have been
released, and yet they're still holding peopleprisoner.
Yes.
Yeah.
When I found my family, they had been liberatedfour four months earlier.
(31:49):
Isn't that something?
And yet the con the the camp that you were inwere actually gonna take you deeper into the
jungle yet even though it was done.
Everyone was liberated.
They still had a hold of you.
I wonder what was going why they would do that.
(32:10):
I just I'm so glad you got out.
Were you able to tell other people where it wasat so they could go get their freedom?
Or or what did you do next?
I just gosh.
There would be so many things going on.
Why you're just so relieved to finally findyour family and be with them?
(32:32):
But then what Yeah.
I, I was really weak.
And when I got home, my my my mom did notrecognize me, and she's Oh, wow.
Yeah.
She pamper me with wonderful food, and I keepeating, eating.
And at that time, I was thinking, I'd rather befat than being skinny and sick.
(33:00):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's that's yeah.
I know one of one of the things there atAndersonville Prison was dysentery.
And, you know, that seems like such an oldfashioned word.
But when you look it up and read what it doesto your body, I mean, it's it's just
(33:20):
devastating what happens when you're starving,when you're forced to be in conditions that are
so terrible.
So I am so glad that you ate and ate and ate nomatter if you were gonna get fat or not because
you needed it.
You needed it.
Wow.
(33:41):
So so what happens
so
did did communism leave Cambodia then, or whatwas going on politically at that time?
Politically, they they the communist group,they still hide themselves in the jungle Mhmm.
(34:05):
Around the country, and they still botherpeople.
But later on, it's kind of, disappear becausethey they don't have any more force.
Right.
Yeah.
People run away from them.
So I would almost never want to leave my familyagain.
(34:27):
But here you are in The United States.
You're not in Cambodia.
So give us just a little timeline about that.
Yeah.
For for more than a year, I was, nurturingmyself.
Accused me and let me open the door for my cat,and he he Sure.
(34:49):
That's fine.
No.
That's alright.
I am just so glad we've got this horrific stormgoing on here in Central Texas.
Unfortunately, I'm in the area that we've got alot of rain, but it's not flooding here like it
is more in the Western Part of Texas.
I just I can't believe all of this rain thatwe're getting.
(35:12):
Why when the thunder went, I jumped.
I didn't even know we had a storm coming.
But we do wanna keep the rest of of those herein Texas and in the flooding areas in our
prayers.
They're still looking for people trying toconnect families together.
Christopher with b to b is is they're outbringing water, blankets, doing rescue, helping
(35:40):
all.
So, yeah, definitely look up.
I think it's called battle to be the number twoto be.
I think it's .org.
It might be .com.
But, yeah, anything anyone can do to help outall of those that are are helping trying to
find survivors and families in in Texas.
(36:04):
Definitely appreciate anything you can do tohelp out there.
But, Sarah, let's continue on with with yourstory.
So, the political climate has changed.
You're getting better.
How did you get to America?
What was and I don't know if that part's inyour book, but I want to know that part, so I'm
(36:26):
sure our listeners want to know too.
Yeah.
Yes.
Well, after a year, more than a year, I lookbetter and feel better.
And my mom had this idea that because ourcountry was pretty much destroyed, we don't
have any infrastructure.
(36:48):
They yeah.
They destroyed everything.
So she's she said that I should escape againone more time.
Escape out of the country to go to America.
And I said no.
Because for four years, I was dreaming of thisenvironment to be close to family.
(37:16):
I I don't care about everything else.
But my mom said, no, honey.
If you go and you do better, you can come backand help us out.
So that was her word that helped me helped medecide to go.
(37:39):
That still had to be tough.
You're fine with your family now.
You're being asked to leave by your mom, for abetter life as as moms and and dads want our
our children.
We want a better life for them.
So how did you get to America?
(37:59):
Is that is that in the book?
Is that something we should read about?
Yes.
It is in the book.
I will I will explain in detail, but I want totell you that it's not easy as to go by the
airplane ticket and fly out.
There is nothing like that.
The Oh, wow.
(38:20):
There there there's nothing like that.
Everything was pretty much destroyed.
There's no airplane to fly.
There's no bus Yeah. To
To So so we had to I had to go through a junglecrossing the border between Cambodia and
(38:41):
Thailand.
So, that's a dangerous journey, but Yeah.
I I did it.
Did you do it by yourself or was someone withyou?
I went with my mom's cousin.
She Okay.
My mom my mom had one cousin that want to go,and that's why she want me to go with him.
(39:04):
So at least I have somebody to go with.
And he also he did not go there just with me.
We wait till we have a few more people, and wepay somebody who know the way.
We we pay them a little bit, so they lead us togo through the night.
(39:28):
Through the night, we crossed the water,crossed the jungle, and everything.
Finally, we got to the Thailand Thailand.
And at that time, there was a a refugee campalready set up by United Nation.
Yeah.
United Nation.
(39:49):
United Nation was informed that there's asituation in Cambodia where people try to get
out and all that.
So so the four months delay for me to comehome, it was worth it because because the
(40:11):
people that crossed the border before me, a lotof them stepped on the landmine and die.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Thousands of people.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
Well, there's some cruelty to it.
(40:32):
They when they the first group that got intothe Thai border, the Thai people round them up,
put them in the bus, and then throw that bus tothe the the the dangerous border, and they they
point the gun, let the people go back toCambodia crossing the heavily land minded
(40:59):
place.
So there are a lot of cruelty in this world.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But
you made it okay.
I made it okay.
Yeah.
So I don't want to know anymore because Ireally want to read the book.
(41:20):
I'll give it a cliffhanger about that.
Oh, man, Sarah.
That is just incredible.
We just think that things like that don'thappen anymore, but they do.
I mean, there's there's horrific things goingon in the world, and we need to we don't have
(41:42):
to be immersed in it, but we need to be awareof it and see what we can do to help each
other, to care about each other.
And and, wow.
So we have to know where do we get your book?
Yeah.
The book is on my website.
It's sarahim.com.
(42:04):
That's saraim.com.
And you go to the book tab.
Just click on the book.
You will find it.
I am going to go there right now.
I can't believe I still have Internetconnection.
(42:24):
This is great.
Oh, that's a beautiful photo of you speaking.
And you do that.
You do speak a lot.
Correct?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Wow.
You speak on the road to resilience, findingpeace and resilience, reframing your thoughts
to overcome challenges to live your best life,personal leadership to succeed.
(42:44):
Wow.
That is just amazing.
And we go over to the books tab, and you havemore than one book.
You've you've got three books here, how Isurvived the killing fields, holistic approach,
and everyday women, everyday woman's guide tothe mindset of a successful woman.
(43:07):
Oh, wow.
39 stories from successful women.
I love anthologies.
I I love the way that people can come togetherand maybe have a theme and and just these
different points of views and insights and andall of the things that they have where they
(43:30):
they show you different ways to look atsomething.
My T shirt here, the giving book, we've gotvolume five is just starting up again, for
those that are interested in in putting achapter.
But but the giving book is different thanyours.
Yours has one main theme, guide to the mindsetof a of a successful woman.
(43:52):
I love that.
The giving book is about sharing your story oryour art, you know, something that you don't
normally share with the world.
I I love that we have these wonderfulentrepreneurs, businesswomen, businessmen who
do something that most people don't know about.
(44:13):
And so here, they get a chance to share it.
They share a memoir, poetry.
You know, maybe they don't have enough for afull book themselves, but but they wanna get it
out there.
They want something published, and the givingbook is a great way to do that.
But, Sarah, that's great.
You've got three books that are there.
I am definitely reading the killing fits.
(44:36):
I wish I could have had it read before we wehad this, but we just that's okay.
There wasn't time in between the two podcast,but there's gonna be time to read it.
You know, everybody's looking for summerreading books, and and yours is one of the
great ones to get.
So it's sarah, saraim,.com.
(44:57):
I I love that it's just such an easy name toremember.
So do you have any closing thoughts for ourlisteners?
Well, my closing thought, I I was thinking thatI decide to write my book after thirty five
(45:18):
years of escaping.
Thirty five years later, I feel like I'm havebeen healed enough to talk about it, to write
about it, and the heal process continue.
So when we write a story, it creates healing.
(45:40):
Yes.
Yes.
So the same the same as speaking.
As we speak, it also provide healing to us tous.
So so I enjoy sharing my story, although it'spainful at the time.
But I want to give people hope that Yes.
No matter how difficult life is, there is hope.
(46:04):
Never never feel at home.
I I love that you said that, and it reminded meof two instances of hope from your book.
And one was that a woman came up to you who wasgoing to kill herself.
And she read your book, and she said, I've gotnothing to be sad about.
(46:27):
And and now her life is continuing on.
I'm I'm just it's you just never know when youtell your story, when you when you share
something that is deep within you and hashappened that you actually do give other people
(46:47):
hope.
And so our stories should not be hidden insideof us.
They should be revealed.
So one, we can heal, and two, we can helpothers heal because you never know who's gonna
hear your story and realize this this isthere's more than what I'm looking at.
(47:08):
Because sometimes we get so lost in ourselvesand in the pain that we're going through that
we can't see what's out around us.
And we need these stories.
We need people to share their insights and anduse their voice so that we can look beyond
(47:28):
what's what our pain is at the moment and maybehelp someone else out of their pain.
Sarah, thank you so much for being here, andthank you, our audience, for being here.
Whether you're watching this or you'relistening to it, we're just really grateful
that you're here.
If you have more questions, get ahold of Sarahm, s a r a I m, at at her website, saram.com.
(47:57):
You can get ahold of me atwww.lskirkpatrick.com, and we'll see you next
time on Reading Between the Words.
Thank you, Sarah.
Thank you.
I hope today's conversation on reading betweenthe words gave you a glimpse into the heart
behind the book and spark something new foryour life or business.
If you love this episode, join theconversation, share it with a friend, leave a
(48:20):
review, or reach out and let us know what spoketo you.
We appreciate your support of this podcast, andremember, your words have power too.
Go to lskirkpatrick.com/podcast.
Welcome back.
Or if this is your first time, welcome toreading between the words podcast.
This is where we dive into the spaces betweenthe words, which is where meaning and wisdom
stirs.
Join us as we open the door between the pageand the person.
You'll hear the heart of the author, thepurpose behind the book, and the transformation
to ignite your life or your business.
Hi.
(00:20):
Welcome to reading between the words podcast.
And today, we have Sarah M here, and Sarah hasthe most incredible story to tell.
Sarah, tell us a little bit about who you areand what you do.
Sure.
My pleasure.
My name is Sarah I'm I am the author of thebook.
(00:45):
It's called how I survive the killing fields.
Now I I speak, talk about my book, and toinspire my audience.
And I also do some coaching and also do someevent organizing wellness event organizer.
(01:07):
Thank you.
That's awesome.
Awesome.
So I know everybody is ready to hear about yourbook.
You gave such a wise and and intriguing introto it a little bit on wisdom on the front porch
podcast.
And but today, we're gonna really just focus onthe book and what was going on with it.
(01:32):
So can you for those that are watching, can youshow us the book and explain to us again what
the title is called?
Yes.
This is the book, and the title is called How ISurvive the Killing Fields, story of hope,
love, and determination.
(01:54):
Nice.
Nice.
And that's a picture of you on the front cover.
Correct?
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So give us a little synopsis of the book forthose that that hadn't seen our podcast on on
Wisdom on the Front porch yet.
Tell them tell them what no.
(02:15):
We'll just start.
What's the killing fields, and and what is thebook really about?
The killing field is is the the thecircumstance that happened in Cambodia back in
1975 for four years when the communist regimetook over Cambodia.
(02:42):
They mistreat people so badly that they end upkilling a lot of people.
They miss through their mistreat or theirexecution and punishment.
So there are about two million people that dieduring that four years period.
(03:03):
And my my book is about my journey goingthrough that time period, how I make it through
and how I was, separated from my my family fora whole four years without knowing what
happened to each other.
(03:24):
Yeah.
And about how old were you then?
I was 21.
21.
Just getting started in your life.
Yes.
Yeah.
That had to really be scary to go through that,especially all on your own, not having your
family there.
(03:45):
Yes.
It is.
Yeah.
When when something bad like that happen, if weare close to our family, at least we have each
other.
But in my case, I was not with my family.
Yeah.
So so you're about 21 years of age.
(04:06):
What was life like before the communist regimetook over?
What what were you doing?
Before the communist took over well, I live inthe in the a village.
It's in the province.
(04:28):
Mhmm.
A city that is smaller than the capital city.
And my mom had a an accident, and she becameparalyzed for four years before before I left
to.
(04:50):
So I was a caregiver for my mom during the thattime that she was disabled.
And that time was the time that help us to wellhave a strong relationship.
So mom and I, we become very close because wewe go through challenging time together, and
(05:17):
and that's helped me to remember the most that,you know, we struggle together, but we make it
through.
And then four years later, she was able to walkagain.
And that just about about the time that Igraduate from high school, and I need to go on
(05:41):
to college.
And college is not in the province.
It's in the capital city.
So I left my family in the province and went topursue college education.
And when the communist Cameroons took overCambodia, I got stuck.
(06:04):
Got stuck in the capital city.
I cannot come home because they shut down thistransportation.
There's no no bus, no airplane, no post office.
I could not even write a letter to let myparents go.
(06:26):
No.
So so you didn't know what would happen tothem, and they didn't know what was happening
to you?
That's correct.
And so so there you are.
You're at school.
This takeover happens.
And and what happened next?
(06:48):
When they took over, Cambodia, they shut downthe whole country.
I mean, the complete shutdown.
They they shut down the school, themarketplace, the bank, the hospital,
everything.
And then nothing open.
(07:11):
So that mean if you need to buy food, there'sno food to to buy.
There's no place to go.
Nobody sell anything.
So it was tough for That is a lot of peopleduring COVID, but this is way worse than that.
There's you know, they were supposed todistance and but at least we could still go get
(07:37):
get groceries and and stuff.
You can't even do that because there's nothingto get.
Yes.
How did you survive?
Well, we struggle to survive.
They they don't just shut down the city.
They don't just shut down the country.
(07:58):
They evacuate.
They move people around the country.
So they come door to door and point gun at usand demand us to leave right away.
So go.
Go.
So we left everything behind.
We just walked away with nothing.
(08:19):
And I mean, with nothing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we we keep walking.
The road was so crowded as as you can imagine.
Hundreds and thousands of people live in thecity, and we all get out together on foot on
(08:41):
foot.
Now were you able to choose where you went, ordid they tell you where to go?
We can go anywhere we want.
Okay.
But I don't know where to go because I'm prettynew in this city.
(09:02):
I don't know how your direction.
But I was fortunate to have my uncle.
I have an uncle who live in the suburb of thecity, and I was able to find him just before
they took over the country.
So I was I was with my uncle and his family.
(09:27):
So that gave me a little bit of comfort.
Yeah.
Yes.
So I am so grateful for that.
But but your story doesn't stop there.
You actually end up in, like, a concentrationcamp.
(09:48):
How did that happen?
Yeah.
As we walk away from the city, we end up in theremote village far away from the city.
We stopped there temporary, and then they theytransport us to different places that they want
(10:10):
to put people in because some place, they'reenough people.
In some place, it's too crowded.
So they distribute.
And the way they did it, they asked forvolunteer if anybody want to move to a certain
province, and they they mentioned the provincethat my parent lived.
(10:34):
So when that happened, I hear I heard it, and Iwant to go.
You know, anything get me closer to my family.
So I register, and they transport us throughthe bus to the the boat and to the the train.
And and then when they they they drop us, theydrop us in the middle of nowhere.
(11:01):
Oh, wow.
It's it's it's now to where my parent live.
No.
I was so disappointed.
But but at least I have my uncle, and we we gotogether.
(11:22):
My uncle gave up anything to make sure that heaccompany me and I made sure that he protected
me.
Wow.
He he was so kind, so loving.
But
my goal to pursue my way to go back home waskeep going keep going.
(11:50):
And and then later on, there was anannouncement that they want single men and
women to to move to us to some place to gettrained so that we can go out and help out the
the village nearby.
So when I heard that, I said, oh, that might bean opportunity for me to travel a little bit,
(12:17):
and maybe I can go to my hometown.
That's my my thinking.
Well, it did not happen that way.
I I register, and they took us to the placethat they want us, and it's that is a a
(12:38):
working.
Oh,
wow.
There there was a thousand of us.
1,000 single men and women isolated from thevillage, and they put us to work.
We just went works work very long hours.
(13:00):
We received very little food.
No time to rest seven days a week, fifteenhours a day, and no rest.
No not enough sleep.
So we end up getting sick.
Yeah.
Now you were working in the rice fields.
Is that right?
(13:21):
Out there under the hot sun bent over becauseyou can't get down on your hands and knees
really.
You've gotta be pulling that rice out of thewet, soggy ground, and it's hot.
It's humid.
You've got the sun reflecting off the water,and and you're not getting the nourishment you
need.
You're not getting the water to drink that.
(13:43):
Wow.
No.
So you ended up getting sick.
What happened?
Well, when we got sick, we still gonna have togo to work.
If we don't work, we don't have anything toeat.
Wow.
Yeah.
I have to force myself to go to work.
(14:05):
You know?
And my sickness is start with malaria.
Oh.
Yeah.
Malaria is like a high fever, and then theychill, and it's extreme.
Like, when you chill, you cannot controlyourself.
(14:26):
So high fever and chill and then the no noissues.
Mhmm.
And then I have other condition on top ofmalaria, and it's miserable.
I have to go to work every day until when I gottoo sick, I can't go anymore, and they send me
(14:51):
to an infirmary.
I call it infirmary.
They said it's the hospital.
It's it's it's the hospital without doctor.
Without doctor, without nurse, withoutmedication.
So, I call it an infirmary.
(15:14):
It's it's like a hospice.
It's the place where you just wait until timeto die.
Oh, wow.
Obviously, you didn't die.
Obviously, no.
I didn't I didn't stay in there for longbecause I realized a lot of people are sick,
(15:35):
and they have different sickness.
And and mice my immune system was so weak.
I can I I can contract more disease?
Wow.
So when I realized that I was I was praying,because I don't know what else to do.
(15:59):
I don't want to stay in there.
But if I don't stay, I I'm too sick to work.
I don't know what to do.
So I pray.
I I ask God to help me.
I don't know much about God, but I realizedthere is it must be God out there.
(16:19):
Yeah.
He's he see everything, and that's what I'mpraying.
I'm praying for the biggest God out there thatknow everything.
So so after praying for many nights, onemorning when I woke up, I I realized, oh, I had
(16:42):
a little bit of energy today.
Maybe maybe I sneak out.
So I snuck out.
And Just thundered here.
Startled me.
Okay.
(17:02):
So so you snuck out.
And what happened?
I snuck out.
I went back to where the work work camp is, andone young team leader saw me coming, and she
she's a kind person.
(17:24):
Thanks.
She's the one that come from the city just likeme, but she's stronger, and she had a job as
the team leader.
When she saw me coming, she she she called me,and she said, alright.
Well, you can stay in my group.
Maybe I can help you.
(17:47):
And she realized that I'm so sick.
I need more help.
So she was able to go to talk to the people inthe kitchen and ask them to see if they can use
my help.
So they say, yeah.
Yeah.
She can come and and help out.
So there's no and god answered my prayer.
(18:12):
And so I was in the kitchen.
Imagine, as sick as I was, if I was not workingin the kitchen, I cannot endure working in the
right field again.
No.
God was so good.
And You must have had was there food availableto you working in the kitchen?
(18:37):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, okay.
Good.
Yeah.
I have a little bit, extra food, and work inthe shade in less hour.
Yeah.
So you're starting to heal.
I start to heal.
So, eventually, I feel much better.
(19:03):
Good.
Good.
But the story doesn't stop there.
No.
No.
They don't they don't let me stay there toolong because when they see me look better, feel
better, they pull me out and throw me back intothe right field again.
Oh, wow.
(19:24):
Yeah.
Yeah.
I start to struggle again.
So on and off, on and off, I was sick and I gotbetter.
I was sick and got better.
And finally, I I can do it for four years.
(19:45):
Wow.
Yeah.
And so after four years, they they moved thecamp.
They moved us away from that location.
They moved us closer closer to the jungle.
(20:06):
So
Oh, wow.
So you're away from your family.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So when I realized that we are going moving tothe jungle, I I know that it's not good not a
good sign.
So that's when I start start looking for waysto escape.
(20:29):
Oh, wow.
What happened to people when they try toescape?
If they get caught, they will be shot.
Got shot.
My goodness.
So you're willing to risk getting shot to getback to your family and get away from there?
Oh, man.
Yeah.
(20:49):
Yeah.
There there's a very hard choice.
You know?
I I don't have easy choice.
No.
Now where was your uncle during all of this?
Do you have any idea?
My uncle passed away during this time.
Oh.
Yeah.
(21:09):
Yeah.
So he did not make it through.
That's harsh.
So I know there's a little bit in your book youwant to read to us.
Now we have a good time.
Let's let's do that.
Yeah.
I wanna wanna hear the rest.
(21:29):
I wanna hear about your escape, but but let's
let's look your book.
I I thought this short chapter, very shortchapter Okay.
Short chapter, it's, it's about during the timethat we all struggle.
(21:54):
Okay.
During that that four year period, talk about areflection.
I thought about it's at nighttime.
What what did we do at nighttime when we arerestless, when we are hungry, when when we
could not sleep, we are too tired.
(22:16):
So let's see.
At least one year passed, and the memory of mypast almost disappear.
I couldn't remember the name of my friends in.
I couldn't recall the many marketplace businesspeople mom had taught me to do to do business
(22:43):
with nor could I recall the name of myprofessor from the college in.
Was it amnesia, or was it some otherunspecified disease?
I had lost track.
(23:03):
My shelter drastically had returned in in a rehad reduced in numbers.
However, we forged a closer friendship ascommitted ourselves to comfort and heal each
other.
(23:23):
During the many restless nights, we lay thereweak and hungry, talking in harsh tone under
the darkness of the night.
Some night, we related in explicit details themanner of how the proper how to prepare our
(23:51):
favorite foods.
Some wishes and hope that this discussion wouldcurb needy appetite.
At other time, we share about our idealsynchronic sync syncretic village with culture.
(24:19):
We felt much better when we allowed our mind towander into places that would be plash pleasant
reminders of our distant past.
Although we all endure painful and difficultnight, We ease our circumstance by sharing
(24:46):
memory of our unique traditional cultural andsocietal way.
This experience seemingly wealth us together.
Our vivid imagination entertains us.
(25:06):
The thought of hunger was immediately erasedfrom my mind when we spoke of my favorite food
and how the various recipe different fromvillage to village.
So that's how we entertain ourselves at night.
(25:30):
Yeah.
That's it it brings back memories of when I wasdoing our family history, and my grandfather
was at Andersonville Prison.
And they too had horrible living conditions.
Very the food was not good.
(25:53):
They would give them corn, but it was the wholecorn, the husk, the cob, everything just all
ground up.
And that's what they had to eat.
And I remember, reading in the Harper, magazinethat, I think it was called Harper Weekly, that
the doctor testified that if they would havegiven them the corn itself, not the husk, not
(26:17):
the cob, then they would have been muchhealthier.
But because they ground it all together, Imean, it was it was so hard.
So I'm not not making light of your situation,but it kinda gave me a little understanding of
of the endurance you had to go through.
(26:40):
We have so much in our world.
It's easy.
You know?
If we don't have something, we just run to thestore and get it.
You know?
If we want pizza, we order it on the phone, andand it's here.
Yeah.
It's yeah.
Sometimes it's difficult to understand the whattrue hunger is like.
(27:03):
You know?
What it what it's what it's like to have towork in those conditions and be so weak.
We can only speculate and and try to imagineourselves there through your story.
So let's let's not leave it at that.
Let's talk a little bit about your escapebecause that brought up something else that
(27:31):
that I think was just unfathomable.
But but go ahead and talk a little bit aboutyour escape.
How how did you have the courage to do thatwhen you knew that you could get shot?
Well, when I thought about if I cannot find myfamily, my life doesn't have any meaning
(27:58):
anymore because that's my goal is to be back tothe family.
So I I rather rather die than than living withhopelessness like that.
Right.
So I yeah.
So I decided to get a three good friend, askthem to see if they would like to escape with
(28:22):
me.
And the the reason why I need a friend is thatI was so afraid because I was sick on and off
on and off, really.
And if I have friend to go with me, you know,at least I have some support.
So so that's how I did it, and we wait untilnighttime.
(28:45):
At night, the guard will have a hard timeseeing us.
So it's easy for us to to, you know, sneak out.
So that's how we deal with that at nighttime.
Wow.
Yeah.
But the nighttime is also give us a verydisadvantage because we cannot see.
(29:07):
We don't know where to go.
And you're not in a place that you know whatit's like.
You've never been there before.
You're you've got snakes and bugs and wildanimals.
Who knows what out there?
And Yeah.
Wow.
That just takes a different type of courage.
(29:28):
Yes.
Yeah.
But the power of love, the love for our familycan give us so much courage.
Yes.
So Yeah.
Yeah.
So we decided to wait until nighttime, and wewe didn't.
We didn't, and they did not see us.
(29:52):
We keep running and walking, running andwalking and a whole night long.
And then you choose which direction to go?
Well, we don't really know, but we just look atthe path that we came, and we just trashed
(30:13):
trace back where we came from.
Okay.
Yeah.
Try to trace back.
So Yeah.
Wow.
So so you finally do reach a village.
You reach some place.
Yeah.
Yes.
We we got out of their their captivity andreached the village.
(30:38):
And finally, we asked people for direction togo to my hometown, and we keep follow direction
and keep walking walking.
Wow.
And finally, we got we got to my hometown, andwhen we got there, I did not find the home.
(30:59):
The home was destroyed.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
So where was your family?
My family was not there.
So I was looking around, and finally, I trackedthem down there and found them.
Yeah.
Wow.
Wow.
Now this story has another twist to it, which Ijust it just is incredible.
(31:26):
You get out, and you found out the war hadalready been over, that you should have been
released, and yet they're still holding peopleprisoner.
Yes.
Yeah.
When I found my family, they had been liberatedfour four months earlier.
(31:49):
Isn't that something?
And yet the con the the camp that you were inwere actually gonna take you deeper into the
jungle yet even though it was done.
Everyone was liberated.
They still had a hold of you.
I wonder what was going why they would do that.
(32:10):
I just I'm so glad you got out.
Were you able to tell other people where it wasat so they could go get their freedom?
Or or what did you do next?
I just gosh.
There would be so many things going on.
Why you're just so relieved to finally findyour family and be with them?
(32:32):
But then what Yeah.
I, I was really weak.
And when I got home, my my my mom did notrecognize me, and she's Oh, wow.
Yeah.
She pamper me with wonderful food, and I keepeating, eating.
And at that time, I was thinking, I'd rather befat than being skinny and sick.
(33:00):
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's that's yeah.
I know one of one of the things there atAndersonville Prison was dysentery.
And, you know, that seems like such an oldfashioned word.
But when you look it up and read what it doesto your body, I mean, it's it's just
(33:20):
devastating what happens when you're starving,when you're forced to be in conditions that are
so terrible.
So I am so glad that you ate and ate and ate nomatter if you were gonna get fat or not because
you needed it.
You needed it.
Wow.
(33:41):
So so what happens
so
did did communism leave Cambodia then, or whatwas going on politically at that time?
Politically, they they the communist group,they still hide themselves in the jungle Mhmm.
(34:05):
Around the country, and they still botherpeople.
But later on, it's kind of, disappear becausethey they don't have any more force.
Right.
Yeah.
People run away from them.
So I would almost never want to leave my familyagain.
(34:27):
But here you are in The United States.
You're not in Cambodia.
So give us just a little timeline about that.
Yeah.
For for more than a year, I was, nurturingmyself.
Accused me and let me open the door for my cat,and he he Sure.
(34:49):
That's fine.
No.
That's alright.
I am just so glad we've got this horrific stormgoing on here in Central Texas.
Unfortunately, I'm in the area that we've got alot of rain, but it's not flooding here like it
is more in the Western Part of Texas.
I just I can't believe all of this rain thatwe're getting.
(35:12):
Why when the thunder went, I jumped.
I didn't even know we had a storm coming.
But we do wanna keep the rest of of those herein Texas and in the flooding areas in our
prayers.
They're still looking for people trying toconnect families together.
Christopher with b to b is is they're outbringing water, blankets, doing rescue, helping
(35:40):
all.
So, yeah, definitely look up.
I think it's called battle to be the number twoto be.
I think it's .org.
It might be .com.
But, yeah, anything anyone can do to help outall of those that are are helping trying to
find survivors and families in in Texas.
(36:04):
Definitely appreciate anything you can do tohelp out there.
But, Sarah, let's continue on with with yourstory.
So, the political climate has changed.
You're getting better.
How did you get to America?
What was and I don't know if that part's inyour book, but I want to know that part, so I'm
(36:26):
sure our listeners want to know too.
Yeah.
Yes.
Well, after a year, more than a year, I lookbetter and feel better.
And my mom had this idea that because ourcountry was pretty much destroyed, we don't
have any infrastructure.
(36:48):
They yeah.
They destroyed everything.
So she's she said that I should escape againone more time.
Escape out of the country to go to America.
And I said no.
Because for four years, I was dreaming of thisenvironment to be close to family.
(37:16):
I I don't care about everything else.
But my mom said, no, honey.
If you go and you do better, you can come backand help us out.
So that was her word that helped me helped medecide to go.
(37:39):
That still had to be tough.
You're fine with your family now.
You're being asked to leave by your mom, for abetter life as as moms and and dads want our
our children.
We want a better life for them.
So how did you get to America?
(37:59):
Is that is that in the book?
Is that something we should read about?
Yes.
It is in the book.
I will I will explain in detail, but I want totell you that it's not easy as to go by the
airplane ticket and fly out.
There is nothing like that.
The Oh, wow.
(38:20):
There there there's nothing like that.
Everything was pretty much destroyed.
There's no airplane to fly.
There's no bus Yeah. To
To So so we had to I had to go through a junglecrossing the border between Cambodia and
(38:41):
Thailand.
So, that's a dangerous journey, but Yeah.
I I did it.
Did you do it by yourself or was someone withyou?
I went with my mom's cousin.
She Okay.
My mom my mom had one cousin that want to go,and that's why she want me to go with him.
(39:04):
So at least I have somebody to go with.
And he also he did not go there just with me.
We wait till we have a few more people, and wepay somebody who know the way.
We we pay them a little bit, so they lead us togo through the night.
(39:28):
Through the night, we crossed the water,crossed the jungle, and everything.
Finally, we got to the Thailand Thailand.
And at that time, there was a a refugee campalready set up by United Nation.
Yeah.
United Nation.
(39:49):
United Nation was informed that there's asituation in Cambodia where people try to get
out and all that.
So so the four months delay for me to comehome, it was worth it because because the
(40:11):
people that crossed the border before me, a lotof them stepped on the landmine and die.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Thousands of people.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
Well, there's some cruelty to it.
(40:32):
They when they the first group that got intothe Thai border, the Thai people round them up,
put them in the bus, and then throw that bus tothe the the the dangerous border, and they they
point the gun, let the people go back toCambodia crossing the heavily land minded
(40:59):
place.
So there are a lot of cruelty in this world.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But
you made it okay.
I made it okay.
Yeah.
So I don't want to know anymore because Ireally want to read the book.
(41:20):
I'll give it a cliffhanger about that.
Oh, man, Sarah.
That is just incredible.
We just think that things like that don'thappen anymore, but they do.
I mean, there's there's horrific things goingon in the world, and we need to we don't have
(41:42):
to be immersed in it, but we need to be awareof it and see what we can do to help each
other, to care about each other.
And and, wow.
So we have to know where do we get your book?
Yeah.
The book is on my website.
It's sarahim.com.
(42:04):
That's saraim.com.
And you go to the book tab.
Just click on the book.
You will find it.
I am going to go there right now.
I can't believe I still have Internetconnection.
(42:24):
This is great.
Oh, that's a beautiful photo of you speaking.
And you do that.
You do speak a lot.
Correct?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Wow.
You speak on the road to resilience, findingpeace and resilience, reframing your thoughts
to overcome challenges to live your best life,personal leadership to succeed.
(42:44):
Wow.
That is just amazing.
And we go over to the books tab, and you havemore than one book.
You've you've got three books here, how Isurvived the killing fields, holistic approach,
and everyday women, everyday woman's guide tothe mindset of a successful woman.
(43:07):
Oh, wow.
39 stories from successful women.
I love anthologies.
I I love the way that people can come togetherand maybe have a theme and and just these
different points of views and insights and andall of the things that they have where they
(43:30):
they show you different ways to look atsomething.
My T shirt here, the giving book, we've gotvolume five is just starting up again, for
those that are interested in in putting achapter.
But but the giving book is different thanyours.
Yours has one main theme, guide to the mindsetof a of a successful woman.
(43:52):
I love that.
The giving book is about sharing your story oryour art, you know, something that you don't
normally share with the world.
I I love that we have these wonderfulentrepreneurs, businesswomen, businessmen who
do something that most people don't know about.
(44:13):
And so here, they get a chance to share it.
They share a memoir, poetry.
You know, maybe they don't have enough for afull book themselves, but but they wanna get it
out there.
They want something published, and the givingbook is a great way to do that.
But, Sarah, that's great.
You've got three books that are there.
I am definitely reading the killing fits.
(44:36):
I wish I could have had it read before we wehad this, but we just that's okay.
There wasn't time in between the two podcast,but there's gonna be time to read it.
You know, everybody's looking for summerreading books, and and yours is one of the
great ones to get.
So it's sarah, saraim,.com.
(44:57):
I I love that it's just such an easy name toremember.
So do you have any closing thoughts for ourlisteners?
Well, my closing thought, I I was thinking thatI decide to write my book after thirty five
(45:18):
years of escaping.
Thirty five years later, I feel like I'm havebeen healed enough to talk about it, to write
about it, and the heal process continue.
So when we write a story, it creates healing.
(45:40):
Yes.
Yes.
So the same the same as speaking.
As we speak, it also provide healing to us tous.
So so I enjoy sharing my story, although it'spainful at the time.
But I want to give people hope that Yes.
No matter how difficult life is, there is hope.
(46:04):
Never never feel at home.
I I love that you said that, and it reminded meof two instances of hope from your book.
And one was that a woman came up to you who wasgoing to kill herself.
And she read your book, and she said, I've gotnothing to be sad about.
(46:27):
And and now her life is continuing on.
I'm I'm just it's you just never know when youtell your story, when you when you share
something that is deep within you and hashappened that you actually do give other people
(46:47):
hope.
And so our stories should not be hidden insideof us.
They should be revealed.
So one, we can heal, and two, we can helpothers heal because you never know who's gonna
hear your story and realize this this isthere's more than what I'm looking at.
(47:08):
Because sometimes we get so lost in ourselvesand in the pain that we're going through that
we can't see what's out around us.
And we need these stories.
We need people to share their insights and anduse their voice so that we can look beyond
(47:28):
what's what our pain is at the moment and maybehelp someone else out of their pain.
Sarah, thank you so much for being here, andthank you, our audience, for being here.
Whether you're watching this or you'relistening to it, we're just really grateful
that you're here.
If you have more questions, get ahold of Sarahm, s a r a I m, at at her website, saram.com.
(47:57):
You can get ahold of me atwww.lskirkpatrick.com, and we'll see you next
time on Reading Between the Words.
Thank you, Sarah.
Thank you.
I hope today's conversation on reading betweenthe words gave you a glimpse into the heart
behind the book and spark something new foryour life or business.
If you love this episode, join theconversation, share it with a friend, leave a
(48:20):
review, or reach out and let us know what spoketo you.
We appreciate your support of this podcast, andremember, your words have power too.
Go to lskirkpatrick.com/podcast.
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