Author’s Notes
The Story Behind the Scar
The Story Behind the Scar: Why I Wrote My Memoir
A personal look at the scar on my chest, how surviving heart surgery and lupus shaped my life, and the emotional moment that made me realize my story deserved to be told.
Building Resilience: Cultivating Emotional Strength in the Face of Adversity
This guide explores building emotional resilience amid adversity, offering practical tips, insights from RJ Benda's lupus memoir, and emphasizing community support to foster hope and strength.
Invisible No More: Advocating for Invisible Illnesses and Joining the Movement
Invisible illnesses often go unseen, causing isolation and misunderstanding. Advocacy and community support are vital to raise awareness, challenge stigma, and improve lives of those affected.
A Wedding on the Lake
A Lakeside Pandemic Wedding: How an Intimate Ceremony Became Our Biggest Blessing
In the middle of the pandemic, we married beside a quiet lake in a simple, intimate ceremony. A deeply personal story of love, resilience, and unexpected beauty.
What Lupus Looks Like for Me
Some mornings, I wake up feeling as though I’ve run a marathon in my sleep. Before I even step out of bed, my joints ache, and every movement feels like wading through thick mud. Google might simply label this as “fatigue,” but that word hardly captures the deep exhaustion that settles in your bones, the heaviness, the mental fog that surrounds you.