The Life She Chose: And They Overcame Him by the Blood of the Lamb, and by the Word of Their Testimony

By Linda O'Riordan

Author Linda O'Riordan was raised by her single mother in Clonmel County Tipperary, Ireland with her siblings. At the age of seven, she was taught how to use a gun. At the age of 17, she was sent to prison. Leading up to her stay in prison, she shoplifted, went on joyrides in stolen cars, and had numerous visits from the police to her home.

It was during those reckless years that she met the man who would father her four children. Their relationship lasted 14 years. During that time, Linda became a victim of domestic violence and other abuses. Slowly, her family began to fall apart. Her eldest son turned to drug abuse and she lost custody of her children. When all hope seemed lost, she contemplated suicide. After another failed relationship that would take Linda and her children many miles away from home, she returned to Ireland to a life of uncertainty...

That was until she made a desperate plea to God at the graveside of her best friend. God heard her cries and has since done some truly phenomenal things in her life!

"The Life She Chose" delves deeply into the pains, heartaches, failures, successes, and complete restoration of Linda's life as she worked to find her way back into the arms of a loving and forgiving God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pearly Gates Publishing LLC
• Release date: Jul 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781945117060

Book preview

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Nine

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty-One

Chapter Fifty-Two

Chapter Fifty-Three

Chapter Fifty-Four

Chapter Fifty-Five

Chapter Fifty-Six

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Chapter Sixty

Chapter Sixty-One

Chapter Sixty-Two

Chapter Sixty-Three

Chapter Sixty-Four

Chapter Sixty-Five

Chapter Sixty-Six

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Chapter Seventy

Chapter Seventy-One

Chapter Seventy-Two

Chapter Seventy-Three

Chapter Seventy-Four

Chapter Seventy-Five

Chapter Seventy-Six

Chapter Seventy-Seven

Chapter Seventy-Eight

Chapter Seventy-Nine

Chapter Eighty

Chapter One

If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies.

The earliest memory I have is of my father chasing a red and black butterfly around his and mam’s bedroom trying to catch it for me. I remember I was sitting on the bed with my mother laughing as dad was following the butterfly. Mam told me I was just over two years old at the time.

As young as I was, I still have vague memories of my dad. I remember a necklace he had made me out of chestnuts he put on a string - and I loved it! A girl took it off of me, and when my dad made it home from work, he went to her house and got it back for me. I had been very upset over it. He carried me on his shoulders while he wore the necklace, and I was truly happy all over again.

My father was a soldier who had served in the Congo and, as a result of him serving there, he became an alcoholic. He was in his early 30s before he ever had a drink, but when he indulged, he could become violent. My mother suffered beatings at his hands many times.

Eventually, my mother left my dad after a huge argument that I heard from my bedroom upstairs. I heard a lot of shouting and then the front door slammed. I made my way downstairs and my dad was sitting in the kitchen crying. He picked me up, sat me on a high stool, and asked me, Linda, do you love me? to which I replied, Yes.

All I can remember after that day is my mam, grandmother, aunt, and me packing up all our belongings and moving to my grandmother’s. My aunt (who was not much older than me) and I were packing our plates while pretending they were our babies as we were putting them into boxes. We pretended the boxes were the babies’ beds.

My mother and some other family members were talking about him one day and mam told me I shouted, You all may hate him, but I love him! I cannot remember that, though.

My mother moved to Dublin, Ireland and my sister and I stayed with my grandmother. The reason my mam had to move was because my dad was constantly calling the house looking for her. My grandmother thought it best that she moved away for a while until it was apparent to my dad that she was never going to go back to him again. The next time I saw my dad was many years later, but I always loved him.

I can remember when mammy would come home some weekends. My sister and I would be so excited. My aunt took us down to the bus one time to meet her off of it. When we saw her coming towards us, I recall being overjoyed and running to her with my arms out. She was, by that time, working at St. John of Gods Hospital in Dublin City. Her uncle Paddy lived in Dublin City and my mother lived there with him.

One time, during my aunt’s birthday (the one who’s close to me in age), mammy bought her one of those big doll houses that you put together yourself. It was made out of cardboard, but had all the details of a real house on the outside. It was made in the likeness of the Victorian houses one would see in London. I wanted one for myself badly. My mother later posted one down for me. I remember getting lost in the thoughts of that Victorian house and would stay in the bedroom on my own just looking at and admiring it.

Mammy moving away to Dublin was something she had to do. We came from a small town in Tipperary named Clonmel, and my dad would have been able to follow and harass her anywhere and everywhere she went. I missed her terribly, though. One day, I walked into my grandmother’s kitchen and could see the back of my mother’s head – or so I thought. I got so excited and shouted, Mam!, but when the person turned around, much to my disappointment, it wasn’t my mam. It was another of my mother’s sisters. It was that incident that made me realize just how much I truly missed my mother.

Chapter Two

Nanny’s Full House

My grandmother’s house was always a busy home. All of my aunts and uncles would be in and out – along with their children…all my cousins.

Nanny had eight children: six girls and two boys. She would mind one of my cousins while his dad (my uncle) and his wife worked. We had lots of fun in those days, as my Nanny was very easygoing and let us get away with almost anything.

She loved going to mass and prayer meetings. Every night, she would make us all say the rosary when were in bed. Nanny would lead us in the rosary. My aunts would be laughing sometimes, and Nanny would shout at them to stop. I would be there saying my prayers like I was very holy, but I was just trying to impress Nanny. After the rosary was over and everyone was half asleep, I would turn to my grandmother and say, Nanny, I said 20 ‘Our Fathers’ in my mind, and she would reply, You’re very good, Linda. I would feel so proud of myself.

We would all spend restful nights together in Nanny’s one bedroom where there were two sets of bunk beds and a fold-down sofa bed.

Chapter Three

Remembering Nanny

I once learned a song in school called Hail, Glorious Saint Patrick. I wrote it down on paper and gave it to my Nanny. I pretended I wrote it myself, thinking my Nanny had never heard the song before – which she had. She said to me, Sing it, Linda. I started singing at the top of my voice and she said, That was lovely. She never let on that she had heard it before. She allowed me to feel the pride I felt in her thinking I had especially written it just for her. That very song I wrote down on that piece of paper is still in my Nanny’s house to this day! She kept everything.

It was through Nanny that I had my first proper encounter with the Holy Spirit. She took me to a prayer meeting in a school hall one night and everyone had their hands held up towards Heaven. They were singing Our God Reigns. I had never seen anything like it before. We moved through the crowd and I continued looking up at everyone, wondering why they had their hands in the air. It was the charismatic movement within the Catholic church at that time, whereby some of the Catholic believers, nuns, and priests had a belief in the speaking of tongues and the Gifts of the Spirit.

My Nanny died in December 2011. I miss her dearly, but at the same time, she lived a long, healthy life. She lived to be 87 years old and loved the Lord with all her heart, so I know she is with Him now.

I loved my Nanny. She loved us all so much and sacrificed her entire life for her children and grandchildren.

Chapter Four

War is H * * L!

Like my dad, my grandfather was also a soldier who served in the army all his life. He is a very proud man, even to this day. At the time of the writing of this book, he is a marvelous 91 years old. He came from a very respectable family. His sisters are teachers and scientists. One of them even moved to Canada for a better opportunity to use her skill set.

My grandmother’s people lived in the mountains and owned a small shop, which they eventually had to close down due to my great-grandmother’s dedication to freely feed the old Irish Republican Army (IRA) everything off the shelves.

Ireland was going through a rebellion against the English forces at that time, trying to win our independence back. All the men and women helped however they could because the old IRA was outlawed by the British and had to go into hiding. My great-grandmother also moved arms for the IRA.

Republicanism is something that would prove very evident in my mother in the years to follow.

Chapter Five

My Ever-So-Brave Cousin

After a few years, mammy felt comfortable enough to return to Clonmel. We moved in with her first cousin for a few months. I liked living there. She and her husband were very nice to my sister and me. They had three daughters and one son. Their son was always playing pranks on us. I was nearly seven years old by then; my sister was five.

I remember one day, their son was babysitting us. He told us there was a monster that used to come around the house, but not to worry because he would mind us. After telling us that, he said he had to go to his friend’s house for a few minutes - and if the monster came banging on the door, just shout his name and he would hear us. We said we would.

He was only gone a few minutes when the back door started shaking and was being banged on loudly. My sister and I were very frightened and started screaming our cousin’s name. With that, the banging immediately stopped and our cousin came through the front door asking what was up. We told him the monster was at the back door and he said, Stay where ye are. I will sort this!

He went out the back door and all we could hear was him shouting and saying, Stay away from them or I will kill you! Then, the back door started shaking again like he was having a fight with the monster. My sister and I were roaring with tears by then, screaming his name and asking him if he was okay. He came back in and said, I sorted that. It won’t happen again. He won’t be back.

We thanked him and he said he had to go back across the road to his friend’s house again. Needless to say, the same thing happened all over again. My sister and I were in an awful state because of that ‘monster’.

Our cousin would come back in and repeat the ‘going out to the back garden to fight the monster for us’ routine. That game he played kept up for some time until his sister came home. By the time she arrived, we were crying uncontrollably and were thoroughly shaken from the whole experience. She gave him a slap on the side of his head for what he had done to us. (Haha!) To this day, my sister and I still remember that happening and laugh when we think about it. Our cousin was always doing things to us while we stayed at their house.

Another time he came home from town with a big, fresh cream and jam sponge cake. He took it out of the box and asked us if we wanted some, to which we both replied, Yes! He then licked the caster sugar from the top of the cake and asked us if we still wanted some. Strangely enough, we kept saying, Yes! (Haha!) He then progressed to take a big bite out