We were lucky to catch up with Sharon Riche recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sharon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?

My heros in life are my loving parents who I adored. My dad was a hidden child during the Holocaust. I learned from a very young age it was a miracle my dad survived and our lives were a gift never to be taken for granted. Despite him losing his childhood my dad went on to live a beautiful life of love and meaning and taught me that even in darkness there is always light. My mom grew up in the Brooklyn projects and graduated valedictorian of her class. My mom also instilled in me a strong work ethic, to always give to others and live a life of gratitude. Most importantly she taught me to always forgive, never hold grudges and that family is everything. My mom died of breast cancer at the age of 49 two weeks before my wedding. As a 24 year old bride to be I learned the hard lesson that no matter how good a person is they can still die. 16 years later my dad died of lung cancer on the evening of my 40th birthday. Even in their illnesses my parents were positive, had a wonderful sense of humor and were grateful for the love and joy in their lives. They stayed actively involved in their philanthropies and taught me to give back to our community. We lived with a deep sense of gratitude, an appreciation for life and we lead with love. I learned from my parents facing their deaths how important it is to spend as much time as we can with our loved ones and express our appreciation for tomorrow is not promised. My parents influenced me to keep their spirit and love deep within my heart. I became our family historian determined to keep our family legacy alive and to always honor and remember my parents with love, respect and gratefulness. The stories of my parents and my childhood became my trilogy of my published books. It is my hope that by reading my books my readers can find light when they are living in darkness as well.

Sharon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born in Brooklyn, New York and moved to Los Angeles a few weeks after I was born. I guess you can say I was a very independent baby.  Shortly after my birth I developed a vascular birthmark called a hemangioma which is a blood vessel tumor above my right eye. It grew so large it covered my entire eye leading to permanent blindness.
Although I was bullied in school I was a bright student and I always felt loved and protected in our home. Being extremely shy I surprisingly had many friends and enjoyed a fun social life.
When I was seven years old we moved to the San Fernando Valley living in Tarzana and then Studio City. I am a true Valley Girl.   I even had my own Valley girl lingo with a New York accent. I was the only daughter between two brothers. My home was always filled with love, laughter and music. We played with the neighborhood kids in the hills of Laurelwood and I am still close friends with those same neighborhood  girls today. My home life was very traditional. My dad was a businessman who owned Grand Central Supermarket downtown and later several carwashes. My mom was home with us and always actively involved as President or a board member on various organizations. We lived a very comfortable life. But, we were not ostentatious. If I wanted something special it was not just given to me. I had to work hard for it and earn my own money.  My dad worked hard for his wealth but all the money in the world could not save my mom from cancer or his own fate from this insidious disease. Although my parents’ lives were cut short I am grateful I had such loving parents for the time they were here. To honor and remember my parents 
I wrote a trilogy of books. Just One More Day , a story of hope, fear and love for a bride to be during the final days of her mother’s life. It is really a love story between a mother and daughter. I never gave up hope that my mom would beat her cancer and that she would live to see my wedding. My mom knew she was dying but to protect me  never let me know. I was terrified of losing her but to protect her I only showed her my strength so she wouldn’t lose hope. I wrote our story after my honeymoon so I could remember our last moments together. I was 24 years old when I wrote it. I wrote it gor my own healing and not for an audience.  I never meant to publish it since it felt too private  Then 27 years later, my boyfriend found my story, read it and encouraged me to publish it. I self published through kindle direct publishing which gave me inspiration to write another book. My second book Tear Stained Pages is about my father’s story of being a hidden child of the Holocaust. My most exciting and proud moment was when my book found its home in the permanent collection in the Yad Vashem library. My most challenging story to share was my third book Through the Eye of Love. For the first time I exposed my deepest secrets of being called ugly eye by my bullies. I felt vulnerable sharing how different I felt growing up with a hemangioma and my blindness in one eye. The ongoing theme in all my books is no matter how much darkness we face in our life there is always light when there is love and to always live in gratitude

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I had no choice but to be resilient from the tender age of three when I first faced my bullies tormenting me for having a massive hemangioma on my tiny face. I was mercilessly teased by this one boy in my kindergarten class. I finally told a teacher on the yard that be was stalking and kicking me. She severely scolded him and hollered at him. With the little boy’s face close to mine staring directly at me looking scared as the teacher yelled I felt so bad for him. I never told on anyone again and never even told my parents when I was teased. I kept it to myself to protect their feelings. Although I struggle with permanent blindness in one eye and being labeled “Ugly Eye” by my tormentors I persevered. Despite my challenges I learned to find the beauty within myself. My disfigurement gave me a deep sense of compassion for others who may feel or look different and I have always shown kindness and empathy towards everyone. My proudest joy as a mother is to see my three adult children having compassionate hearts and always being loving, kind and inclusive.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is to share my stories to encourage health, positivity, gratefulness, and appreciation for family, friendship and our lives. Having lost my parents to cancer I am always participating in various fundraising efforts for further research.. I was bestowed the honor of sharing “Just One More Day” at the Motherless Daughters Luncheons. I also am actively involved in Motherless Daughters of Los Angeles, Parentless Parents groups and most recently I have applied to be a mentor for a motherless girl through EmpowerHer. As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor I feel it is my duty to retell my dad’s story for future generations. I was honored to be a speaker for Tear Stained Pages” at the Museum of Tolerance and continue to share his story as I am involved with second generation survivor groups. My vision for writing “Through the Eye of Love” is to help children who feel different to not feel alone and to help their parents understand what they could be going through. It is my hope that once you read my books you will live life fully and with meaning and purpose.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Sharon%20Riche/author/B078VG5ZT5
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharriche/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharon.e.riche?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-riche-94a96639