A Personal Journey of Healing and Renewal

Introduction

After three decades away from the country where I grew up, my trauma occurred I have returned to Germany. This homecoming is unlike anything I could have predicted. It comes after surviving both cancer and a heart attack last year—events that shook the foundation of my life and forced me to rethink everything I believed about time, purpose, and myself.

Now, I find myself in a psychosomatic clinic in Stuttgart—the very city I left in 1995 when I moved to New York City. Returning has felt surreal, emotional, and at times painful, but also grounding. It feels like a second chance, a reset, an invitation to step into the next chapter with more honesty and intention.

This journal is my attempt to capture the journey: the progress and setbacks, the emotions and memories, the healing and the discomfort. I want to document what these days mean to me so I can look back and understand how far I’ve come.