"Many times in dysfunctional families, children and their children often take the easy way out and follow the examples set by their parents. I chose the hard path; the painful one; the one that broke the cycle of insanity and abuse. It ended with me." -Bridgette Pearce In a world where the nuclear family is considered to be a husband, wife, and two kids in a house with a white picket fence, Bridgette Pearce's childhood was anything but that Norman Rockwellian image. She was the only child of a woman who bore her as a single, unwed, seventeen-year-old child herself. The boy in the equation was nonexistent in Jeannie Allan's life and in her daughter Bridgette's, and Jeannie coped in the only way she knew how: By falling prey to substance and alcohol abuse while falling for men who took advantage of her kind heart and also abused her because of it. In Detached: a Memoir, Bridgette recounts her childhood as the parent figure in a mother-daughter relationship and how she grew up too quickly for her age and missed out on the experiences that most children enjoy. From her unique perspective of having to fend for herself, resulting in full emancipation from her mother when Bridgette was only thirteen years old, Bridgette details her young adulthood and achievements. Not only did she graduate from high school two years earlier than her peers, Bridgette graduated from the University of Maryland and went on to become a successful executive at The United Way of Central Maryland while raising a happy, healthy family of her own. Conceived to help others by assuring them that they're not alone and helping them navigate through difficult relationships, Detached: a Memoir is a mesmerizing book that will attract a wide audience. Chapters cover subjects from failed parenting to educational success and success in the corporate world, while serious about the subject matter, are also entertaining, with titles that include "The Parallel Universe" and "A Little Song, A Little Dance." A thoughtful and profound mentor and motivational coach, Bridgette has written a book offering both personal and professional insights and inspiration.