DRIED CHERRY JUICE SERIES

🍒 In Closing... Those Final Drops In this closing reflection of Dried Cherry Juice: The Story So Far, Cece gently rewinds the tape back to where it all began — reminding listeners that stories are meant to be told, claimed, and owned. What first appeared dark, frightening, and “blood-stained” is reframed as something far less sinister and far more human: dried cherry juice all along. This epilogu...

🍒 Chapter 30: Cherry à la Mode In the series finale, Cece reflects on grief, loss, and meaning after the deaths of Zoie, her Nana, and later her Papaw. She describes Native American traditions around death, the symbolic meaning of owls in her family, and how repeated losses shaped her perspective on life. The chapter becomes a collection of hard-earned wisdom: trusting your gut, setting boundarie...

🍒 Chapter 29: Fire & Water Cece takes a reflective detour into astrology, exploring her identity as a Pisces–Aries cusp — “fire and water.” She uses this framework to understand her emotional depth, empathy, impulsivity, and inner contradictions. Blending humor with insight, she explains how being both dreamy (Pisces) and fiery (Aries) has shaped her life: deep intuition, intense feelings, bo...

🍒 Chapter 28: Fever Dreams This episode revisits Cece’s complicated relationship with her father through the lens of a painful Christmas confrontation. After asking him not to joke about her mother, he responds by cutting off contact, sending cruel texts, and ultimately telling her he never loved her. Supported by her husband, Cece chooses not to engage in the conflict and instead focuses on boun...

🍒 Chapter 27: Where We Go from Here Cece reflects on early marriage, childhood neglect, and emotional healing. She unpacks the statistic that marriages before age 22 often fail — and how she nearly defied the odds for nearly two decades. She explores how growing up in an unsafe emotional environment shaped her relationships: seeking validation, people-pleasing, and trying to “earn” love rather th...

🍒 Chapter 26: Call Me Infertile Myrtle This episode centers on Cece's journey through infertility, chronic illness, and redefining what “motherhood” means. After years of trying to conceive, medical testing, and fertility treatments, she learns that PCOS combined with lupus made pregnancy medically unsafe — especially given her leukemia treatment. Rather than becoming parents to human children, C...

🍒 Chapter 25: Internal Inferno In this deeply personal episode, Cece describes the day she unexpectedly learned she had a rare form of chronic leukemia. What began as a routine medication appointment turned into an urgent call from her doctor after abnormal bloodwork revealed an extremely high white blood cell count. She explains her diagnosis in clear, relatable terms, including what “normal” co...

🍒 Chapter 24: Paranormal Experiences This episode takes a tonal turn into the strange, eerie, and unexplained, as Cece recounts two major paranormal experiences: Waking from a nap to violent knocking on her locked bedroom door while all four dogs reacted in fear — followed by what appeared to be a TV remote sliding under the door, leading her to call the police. Officers found no intruder and the...

🍒 Chapter 23: Flooding of Mental Health Issues This episode focuses on Cece's mental health history and neurodivergence. She reflects on growing up in an anxious, high-stimulation world and shares memories of her Nana’s understanding of depression as a true chemical imbalance. Cece explains her diagnoses over time — including ADHD, learning differences in math and science, OCD tendencies, bipolar...

🍒 Chapter 22 — Contagion, Chaos, & Conflagrations Cece transitions from newlywed life into the onset of serious medical challenges. She first reflects on her early work history and shares a heartwarming story about receiving a workplace award for her “contagious positive attitude.” Despite this, her health worsened, leading her to step back from employment and become a homemaker while seeking...

🍒 Chapter 21: Juggling Losses & Gains • Part 2 This episode moves from grief into the reality of planning a wedding amid family division. Cece describes how most of her father’s side of the family chose not to attend after her dad refused to walk her down the aisle. She reflects on her mother’s extraordinary effort to help fund and plan the wedding while working multiple jobs. The story then...

🍒 Chapter 20: Juggling Losses & Gains • Part 1 In one of the most emotionally complex chapters, Cece prepares for her wedding while grieving a sudden family tragedy. Just days before the ceremony, her future brother-in-law is killed by a drunk driver, casting a shadow over what should have been a joyful week. Cece reflects on comforting her young niece at the funeral and honoring her future s...

🍒 Chapter 19: Ceremonies, Conflicts, & Conflagrations This episode chronicles the final rupture of Cece's childhood home. After repeated conflict, her mother asks her father to leave and files for divorce, obtaining emergency restraining orders. Cece describes hiding her truck at Bryce’s house, the anxiety of hearing the garage door open, and a frightening incident where her father attempts t...

🍒 Chapter 18: The Boiling Point • Part 2 Cece returns home hoping for resolution — and instead encounters further escalation. This episode explores a traumatic breakdown in family dynamics: arguments, a panic attack, a physical altercation with her brother, and the removal of her car keys to prevent her from leaving. Family counseling follows, but her father refuses to take responsibility for his...

🍒 Chapter 17: The Boiling Point • Part 1 Cece blends warmth and tension in this episode as she recounts choosing her beloved chihuahua Zoie — the “mean puppy” who perfectly matched her personality — and shares humorous memories of early adulthood, Blockbuster dates, and the chaos of a house full of pets. Beneath the humor, conflict is escalating at home: double standards around responsibility, he...

🍒 Chapter 16: A Not-So-Steady Flow Cece centers this episode on the reality of living with severe menstrual symptoms as a teenager with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Cece describes the physical toll of unpredictable, extremely painful periods, missed school and work, and recurring anemia from blood loss. She also reflects on how these experiences intersected with her relationship with Bryce...

🍒 Chapter 15 — Kindling an Eternal Flame Cece’s friendship with Bryce slowly blossoms into romance. Despite workplace concerns, they secretly date before becoming public — culminating in a surprise proposal on a scenic bridge. Cece begins balancing wedding planning with new jobs and early signs of health problems that will soon intensify, setting the stage for the next phase of her story. — ⚠️ Po...

🍒 Chapter 14: Burn After a devastating car wreck that nearly required the Jaws of Life, Cece confronts the fallout: hospital staff, family tension, and Garrett’s betrayal. She learns he left the scene to get high, and later discovers his “promise ring” was recycled. The chapter explores betrayal, reputation, control at home, and how Cece quietly begins planning her independence. — ⚠️ Potential tr...

🍒 Chapter 13: Crash Cece details the emotional breakup with Toby during his basic training and her rebound relationship with Garrett. As she begins working at a major hospital, she forms important friendships — including with Bryce — while still secretly dating Garrett against her father’s wishes. The chapter builds toward the night of a serious car accident that changes everything. — ⚠️ Potentia...

🍒 Chapter 12: Baby Got Back... Draft Cece recounts her first serious love with Toby, navigating secrecy, teenage sexuality, and strict parental rules that offered no education or contraception beyond “don’t do it.” When rumors reach her mother, Cece panics and backtracks. She describes sneaking around, pregnancy scares, and how control at home shaped her choices — ending with Toby leaving for the...

🍒 Chapter 11: Baby Got Back... Story Cece reflects on finishing high school, popularity, and the pressure to “fit in” while living in an emotionally volatile home. She describes a highly controlled household, double standards between her and her younger brother, and how she coped by staying invisible, overly compliant, and meticulously organized. Through humorous family anecdotes and candid refle...

🍒 Chapter 10: Continuing on After the Aftermath Cece lightens the tone with a series of funny — and painfully relatable — misadventures, while weaving in deeper themes about anxiety, phobias, and intuition. The chapter closes on a recurring dream motif tied to vintage keys, hinting that her subconscious is still processing everything she’s been through. — ⚠️ Potential triggers featured in this ep...

🍒 Chapter 9: Flooded with Unanswered Questions Cece's health issues become impossible to ignore as she begins experiencing “zone-outs” believed to be seizures. Medication changes, chronic pain, and a tachycardia diagnosis follow — alongside emotional abuse at home that fuels her eating disorder. The chapter honestly explores body image, secrecy, shame, and the beginning of her recovery journey. —...

🍒 Chapter 8 — Flames of my Past... & Honorable Mentions Cece gives a humorous yet revealing tour of her high-school dating life, crushes, and misadventures — from intense first dates to awkward breakups, church crushes, and friendships that crossed boundaries set by her father. The chapter blends comedy with deeper themes of control, identity, and safety. — ⚠️ Potential triggers featured in t...

🍒 Chapter 7: More Than Just Growing Pains We’re moving out of childhood now — into the messy, medical, and emotional realities of growing up. This chapter moves fully into adolescence — the awkward, painful, funny, and transformative years where bodies, identities, and relationships all seem to change at once. Cece reflects on her “glow-up,” middle-school bullying, and the complicated realities o...