Sandra
(Sandy) Strauss
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The Guts, Grace and
Gusto of
Sandy Strauss
Sandy was a boomer mom who wanted
options. Eager to enjoy raising her two daughters in a flexible lifestyle,
she left her job as Vice President of consumer affairs for a trade association
just weeks before the birth of her second child to launch her own marketing
communications company. Continually tugged by competing priorities,
she sought balance between work and family, determined to express her
best in her multiple roles and gained valuable lessons in letting go
of perfection.
Upon their youngest daughter’s acceptance into college, Sandy
and her husband, Rick who had been married for 27 years, plotted their
adventures in travel as soon-to-be empty nesters. Months earlier while
their family vacationed in Austria, they had danced to the Strauss waltz
with their eyes on other explorations. Those dreams were dashed when
the unexpected suddenly turned their lives upside down.
Rick, a vocational rehabilitation consultant, whose career focused upon
helping clients regain their lives following injury or loss, was himself
stricken with a mysterious condition that left him barely functional,
often unable to move, process information or act in familiar ways. His
vitality soon disappeared as if his life force had been sucked from
him.
Sandy embarked upon a long and tumultuous journey into the unknown.
Month after month, neither doctors nor extensive medical tests could
offer any diagnosis or corresponding prognosis. The once devoted husband and father now appeared as a stranger to loved ones as well as to all
who had long valued his wit, wisdom, and big heart. She struggled to
find hope within the heartache.
They lived suspended in a world without answers for a year. As Rick
lay in his hospital bed barely able to move or speak with hope draining
from his nearly lifeless body, Sandy miraculously received a phone call
from a woman afflicted with a similar condition as Rick’s. Together
they rushed to the hospital, demanding a test that did indeed reveal
the cause of the medical mystery and as of this writing, recovery is
hopeful but not assured.
Sandy found herself in what she calls the “Don’t Know Zone”,
uncertain of outcomes in many aspects of her life. In the midst of it,
she confronted her fears, darkest days and daily exhaustion from having
to handle it all. She rearranged priorities and devoted her days to
endless details, fighting off resistance to handling all the paperwork.
She worked to streamline systems, juggled a myriad of accounts, sorted
out college tuition plans, filtered through insurance claims, dealt
with the growing onslaught of endless responsibilities and sought professional
advice, squeezed between medical appointments, health emergencies and
sustaining her family.
Sandy is devoted to sharing valuable lessons with audiences regarding
how to sustain strength in the midst of chaos, prepare for the unexpected,
tap your power, wisdom and keep your wits through it all.
Sandra Strauss
Sandy@GutsGraceandGusto.com
(703) 273-6457
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