July 29, 1949, Joan arrived into this world to a loving couple named Virginia and Joe L'Esperance. She was their first child. Two brothers and two sisters would soon follow.
Her family grew up in "the boonies" of Norwood, MA, at that time. Her life was ordinary. Joan spent alot of time outside engaged in "tomboy" activities...climbing the tallest tree, challenging her friends to join in the adventure.
Eventually, Joan attended Notre Dame Academy in Hingham. Early on, the school gave students a test designed to determine their strengths and best future occupation. This exam told Joan she would be best suited as either a farmer, or a police officer. The administrator remarked, "But we know you can't be a police officer because you're a female." It was true that she loved to be outdoors working with plants, but the police officer part of her personality hadn't emerged yet.
Soon after high school graduation (1967), Joan married her high school sweetheart. Let's just call him "Frank". As soon as the news came that their first baby was on her way...Frank was deployed to Viet Nam with the Army. A year later, Frank returned home to his wife and daughter, but he was not "the same".
He had experienced a lot of trauma and death while he was gone. It must have been incredibly difficult to come back to a "normal" world and pretend you were still "normal". Rather, he would wake up screaming a lot and was full of negative emotions. At times it seemed his outlet was to direct the anger and hate towards his family. Maybe he felt that was the safest outlet. Counseling in those days was not an option.
By 1971, Joan found herself living in her parent's basement while raising her daughter alone. This is when she really started praying for help understanding what had happened. At the same time, deep within her, was born a drive to assist others who may have gone through similar experiences. One day at church, Joan felt more despair than usual. She had only $10 left, but threw it in the collection basket with a plea for God to show her what path she should take. The answer was delivered in less than 30 minutes when she arrived home. She opened the door, and there sitting on the kitchen table was a pamphlet from a local newspaper, advertising Adult Day Courses at Northeastern University.
It spoke to her!!!
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