This is my story. It is about living with a mother with mental illness and how it affected me as a child and young adult. The pain of suicide of a mother and the effects of domestic violence on children is portrayed in partial manuscripts, poems and memoirs. My early experience as an exchange student to Brazil permeates the pages as it has permeated my life. My husband's contributions add perspective throughout the book. Our marriage during the Vietnam War and my experiences as a Marine Corps wife are portrayed as honestly as I can depict them. This is a book about a great adventure through South and Central America which resulted in a marriage which has become the title: Sempre Juntos.