Everyone has a story, a series of pivotal moments that shoved their life down a different path. Some stroll leisurely, hand in hand with good fortune, down streets paved with gold. Others can’t seem to make a right turn before they’ve thoroughly vetted all the wrong ones. Others still, by no fault of their own, get propelled onto paths wrought with pain and adversity. 

As we’ve gotten older, we’ve learned the ones who were dealt the worst of hands are often the ones who radiate positivity and pour kindness into everyone around them. It’s not the famous who deserve the spotlight, it's the ordinary people we pass in the grocery store or sit beside at ball games who do. We’ve made it a mission to seek out these people and share their stories.

Candace Taylor is a beautiful, bubbly, 25-year-old preschool teacher. Her voice is soft and gentle, but she speaks with the confidence of someone well beyond her age. 

She has a smile so genuine and a presence so calming that it's no surprise she was chosen by her school for a special video, a Bedtime Story read-along in honor of Read Across America Week. The video garnered enough attention that Candace is considering making it a regular thing. 

On the surface, Candace is just a sweet young woman who spends her days loving on three- and four-year-olds at The Goddard School in Hendersonville before attending college at night. At a glance, she’s a pretty girl with a cute boyfriend, Zach, dogs Millie and Ivy, and a bright future ahead. 

But a small glimpse into her past reveals healing traumas and surmounted odds most of us don’t want to imagine. 

“I’m only 25, yes,” says Candace. “But I feel like I've already lived five lifetimes.” 

At the tender age of 13, her family — hit hard by the recession — lost their home and way of life after the family business was forced to close. This propelled Candace, the second oldest of four siblings, to grow up quickly and take on more “oldest daughter” responsibilities. Around this same time, her older brother started abusing Candace mentally and physically. 

“I feel like it’s pretty common for siblings to hurt each other, but what he did wasn’t the same,” Candace reveals. 

As the abuse continued, it got more violent and eventually evolved into what Candace describes as the “worst possible abuse.” 

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“A lot of people go through loss and abuse,” says Candace. “But everything just came crashing down on me at once.” 

Sweet little Candace turned to writing in those early teenage years as a means of escaping her reality. She found that she could recreate her identity, in a healthy way, by turning all the terrible stuff into her own personal art. At that tender young age, Candace made the life-altering decision on how to best use the pain she was feeling. 

“I decided that I was going to take my pain and my story and use it to fuel my passion for life rather than put out the fire inside of me,” Candace asserts. “ I never wanted to be defined by the scarlet letter that is abuse.” 

Much like the character in the story she read, Candace built something beautiful out of the deconstructed mess. 

“I don’t share my story a lot, because there’s such a stigma surrounding abuse survivors,” she says. “I’m trying to get more comfortable with it. I don’t want to be viewed as a victim. I don’t want that to define who I am.”

Candace is currently majoring in English with a focus on creative writing. She hopes to become a published author someday and to further use her story to help others.

“I want to use my past in a positive way, maybe even bring someone closer to God,” she proclaims. “I want to do something to help give a voice to abuse victims and let them see that they can still do amazing things.”

When reflecting on her past, Candace says she is most proud of how far she’s come. From brokenness and trauma to happy and healthy, Candace is thriving not just surviving, 

“I did not think I would make it past 14 years old,” she admits. “Yet, here I am now almost 26 and living a life I could have only dreamed of. I’m proud of my perseverance, resilience, and determination.”

Candace, like so many others, proves that you can’t understand someone until you take a walk in their shoes. Be kind to everyone you meet. You never know what invisible battle they are fighting and how your smile can change their life. 

And next time you see this sweet girl reading children’s bedtime stories on a video on your newsfeed, just know that everything in her life — the good, bad, and the ugly — has played an important role in forming her into the blessing she is today.

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