Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Leaving Cloud 9
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.sweetlifeericka.com
CITY: Indianapolis
STATE: IN
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
http://leavingcloud9.com/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married Rick Sylvester; children: Jacob and Abby.
EDUCATION:Attended Indiana University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and digital media marketing professional. Independent Women’s Forum, Washington, DC, digital marketing director. Previously digital director at National Review magazine and online media director for Congress under Vice President Mike Pence, both Washington, DC; also worked as communications director for Congressman Todd Rokita (IN) and digital manager at the Heritage Foundation, Wahington, DC. Consultant for the Steamboat Institute, Steamboat Springs, CO.
AVOCATIONS:
Running, cross-fit training.
WRITINGS
Contributor to periodicals and websites, including National Review, Daily Signal, Scary Mommy, and Federalist.
SIDELIGHTS
Ericka Andersen is a freelance writer and digital media marketing professional who worked in Washington, DC, for a decade before returning to her home state of Indiana. Her freelance writing focuses on topics such as politics, policy, culture, and fitness and has appeared in periodicals and on websites. Andersen is also the author of Leaving Cloud 9: The True Story of a Life Resurrected from the Ashes of Poverty, Trauma, and Mental Illness. The book looks at the difficult life of Andersen’s husband, Rick Sylvester.
Andersen recounts how her husband, at the age of two, was abandoned by his father. He grew up with his mother, who struggled with poverty and was abusive. She also used drugs and alcohol and turned to thievery and prostitution to make money. Rick’s mother would eventually attempt suicide several times. As a result of his difficult and chaotic childhood, Rick developed numerous psychological problems, including depression, anxiety, and post-tramautic stress disorder (PTSD). Over the thirty-plus years he struggled with life, he seemingly followed in his mother’s footsteps as he began using drugs an alcohol to self-medicate for his internal pain. He could not hold down a job and ended up getting divorced twice. He was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
“It wasn’t until Rick opened up his heart to God in his mid-thirties that his hard life began to soften a little,” Andersen writes in Leaving Cloud 9, adding: “It wasn’t until then that he realized he didn’t have to carry all his burdens alone.” Andersen goes on to note that the turning point in her husband’s life was when he made a commitment to Jesus and Christianity. Andersen writes: “Life didn’t get a ton easier, at least not at first, but it did become manageable. There was room for joy, for hope.”
Andersen chronicles her husband’s story beginning in childhood living in rural Arizona with his mother, Sylvia, and younger sister, Jenny, in a trailer park called “Cloud 9.” The book details the ongoing trauma both Rick and his sister experienced. Rick often had to fend for himself as his mother became more and more unstable. Both he and his sister would live alternately with their mother and their grandparents, who made it clear that their presence was mostly a burden for them.
At one point, the family was facing homelessness in Colorado. Rick and Jenny huddled under a blanket in their mother’s car as she parked outside a bar and went inside. She came back out with a man, and they all rode to a rundown motel. Sylvia and the man went inside a hotel room as the kids waited outside in the car, which was kept running. When the man left, Sylvia brought the children inside the hotel room, paid for by Sylvia’s sexual encounter.
As an adult, Rick continued to struggle, including with drugs and alcohol. He met Andersen via an online dating site. Although her husband has made many advances in addressing his problems, Andersen points out that Rick continues to live with PTSD and accompanying mental health issues, including anger and anxiety. In an interview with National Review online contributor Kathryn Jean Lopez, Andersen noted: “For my husband, getting the story out was ultimately part of his healing process. Talking for hours and hours about all that he went through was difficult, but it helped him process it and really recognize the severity of his pain. It also helped him see how clearly these circumstances had guided his future and affected his brain and spirit as an adult.”
While chronicling her husband’s struggles and attempts to deal with them, Andersen also shows how her husband’s experiences reflect many of American society’s problems, from poverty and homelessness to drug addiction and mental illness. In the process she provides numerous statistics. “You’ll find hope woven in the pages of his biography, though Rick’s childhood will make you want to scoop him up, rescue him and his sister, and spirit them away to a loving, secure home,” wrote Mary Demuth in Christianity Today. Calling Leaving Cloud 9 a “heart-wrenching book,” a Publishers Weekly contributor commented: “Andersen explores how relying on faith can help those who have suffered trauma overcome their circumstances.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Andersen, Erika, Leaving Cloud 9: The True Story of a Life Resurrected from the Ashes of Poverty, Trauma, and Mental Illness, Thomas Nelson (Nashville, TN), 2018.
PERIODICALS
Christianity Today, June, 2018, Mary Demuth, “An End to Numbness: Rick Sylvester Was a Broken Child on the Path to Becoming a Broken Adult—until God Intervened,” review of Leaving Cloud 9, p. 76.
Publishers Weekly, May 14, 2018, review of Leaving Cloud 9, p. 52.
ONLINE
Erika Andersen website, http://www.sweetlifeericka.com (October 12, 2015).
Leaving Cloud 9 website, http://leavingcloud9.com/ (October 12, 2018).
National Review Online, https://www.nationalreview.com/ (July 2, 2018), Kathryn Jean Lopez, “Recovering Hope in the Life of the Family,” author interview.
I'm Ericka -- New mom, runner, CrossFitter, writer, social media lover, living my life as balanced and joyfully as possible in Indianapolis, Indiana. After 10 years in Washington, DC, I'm glad to be home! I'll never say no to a cupcake and I'm always up for an adventure :)
Ericka Andersen
is a freelance writer who also serves as the Digital Marketing Director at the Independent Women’s Forum and as a consultant for The Steamboat Institute. She previously wrote for, and was the Digital Director at, National Review magazine. Prior to that, she was the Digital Manager at the Heritage Foundation and worked in communications for Vice President Mike Pence at the GOP Conference. She attended Indiana University. She lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, with her husband and son.
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CULTURE
Recovering Hope in the Life of the Family
By NR INTERVIEW
July 2, 2018 12:56 PM
Ericka Andersen
A powerful, intimate, healing story for our time.
Ericka Andersen is the author of a new book, Leaving Cloud 9: The True Story of a Life Resurrected from the Ashes of Poverty, Trauma, and Mental Illness, a hopeful story about her husband. She talks about how they decided to tell their story, and why we should all take the time to read it and pass it on.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: You write of your husband: “The day he began praying for healing and reaching out to God is the day it began to get better. The only thing required that little bit of faith and a willingness to humble himself.” Can it really be that simple?
Ericka Andersen: It was for my husband, and I believe it can be for others. Unfortunately, my husband had to hit rock bottom before reaching out in faith, but one needn’t get to such a desperate place in order to start seeking God’s guidance and provision. The Bible says we need only the faith of a mustard seed to move mountains. Indeed, it takes only this little bit for God to begin moving in our lives. All Rick needed to do was open his heart to the possibility that God could help him. Once he did so, things began moving quickly in miraculous ways.
Lopez: You are quick to add: “That doesn’t mean Rick’s life is always easy or fun. In fact, sometimes it’s a daily battle to just get up and do it all again. But it’s the small steps we take each day, sometimes without realizing it, that eventually take us to the place where we look up and realize we’ve actually gone a mile — or completed a marathon. But you have to start taking steps to eventually have that realization. And once you do, it’s a beautiful journey to look back on, even when you realize you have a lot further to go.” Does that mean rethinking what “happiness” looks like from day to day?
Andersen: Absolutely. I reiterate that Rick has found “happiness” in his life today, but that doesn’t mean he is always “happy.” It’s more like an enduring joy that supersedes the everyday setbacks we all have. In the past, he had been living in a sort of despair that colored every circumstance in dreariness — but now it’s the opposite of that. Living a life of freedom in Christ has meant seeing the world through Kingdom-colored glasses that give a new perspective to both the good and the bad things that come our way.
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Lopez: Pope Francis talks about the Church as a field hospital for the wounded, where Christians have to be in the position of healing wounds. Does that resonate with you in regard to this book?
Andersen: I love the way he puts that — so true. There are so many emotional and spiritual wounds that need tending to, but they are so often invisible, which is why we need the church’s outreach and insight to find them. I don’t think we as human beings can heal anything ourselves, but we as Christians have access to the healing power of Christ. And we need to ensure that the wounded are aware that it is available to them as well. That really is the crux of the book. We wanted to offer a template of hope for people living in oppression to their pasts. It’s a difficult path but a simple one if someone has access to the information. This book could truly be part of the cure for someone who is in pain.
Lopez: When Pope Francis unpacks this field-hospital symbolism, he talks about the need for closeness, a vulnerability. That certainly resonated immediately with me when I cracked your book open, because it is certainly vulnerable! Was it hard to reveal that much of your and your husband’s hearts in this book?
Andersen: For my husband, getting the story out was ultimately part of his healing process. Talking for hours and hours about all that he went through was difficult, but it helped him process it and really recognize the severity of his pain. It also helped him see how clearly these circumstances had guided his future and affected his brain and spirit as an adult. It is anxiety-inducing for him to put his story out there in the world, but he is well aware that there are thousands of people who can relate to some aspect of the story, and he wants nothing more than for them to see hope through it. For me, discussing some of our marriage issues in the book was a little intimidating, but I want people who face similar circumstances to know they are not alone. Being married to someone with a mental illness can sometimes feel very lonely, because friends or family don’t understand your unique issues, so I hope this brings light to others facing those tough times as well.
Lopez: Where does your book leave someone who has no connection to faith right now?
Andersen: If someone reads this book and doesn’t have a connection to faith, my hope is that he or she will see how holding onto faith in God truly was life-changing for my husband. He is not out here trying to preach or impose his viewpoint on anyone — he just wanted his story to be told. This changed his entire life. If someone is reading who might be suffering from some sort of depression, or from oppression, perhaps they will entertain the idea of prayer or attending a church service. There is certainly no harm in being open to new things, and if nothing else, I hope it encourages people to consider it.
Lopez: How can we think about mental health differently? Interpersonally and more collectively?
Andersen: The stigma against mental-health issues has decreased lately, in some respects, and that’s a good thing. We need to keep in mind that mental health is just as important as physical health and treat it accordingly. If your mental health isn’t good, you can’t interact with the world in a healthy way or be the person you are meant to be. Ensuring that you have the right medication to treat yourself is imperative. But just as important is coming at it from a spiritual side, working with counselors, diligently praying for clarity, and doing everything you can to help yourself.
Ensuring that you have the right medication to treat yourself is imperative. But just as important is coming at it from a spiritual side.
Interpersonally, people need to recognize that their friends, family members, or spouse do have a medical issue and learn about it. Learn why they may react the way they do and discover how you can navigate the illness just as you would need to do if someone was in a wheelchair. You’d have to structure your house a little differently if you lived with someone who couldn’t walk. With mental illness, you might need to structure your conversations a little differently sometimes. There are ways to cope with it, but it requires educating yourself.
Lopez: What is it about Rick’s story that has taught you about the need for loving foster parents who will take children in for a time, knowing they might not be there forever?
Andersen: The power of one loving adult can make all the difference in the life of a child. Foster parents are so critical in the lives of these children — and this country needs good, principled people to step up and be there for them in these difficult times. That love and influence can make an impact for a lifetime. With so few positive influences in their lives, the ones that are there are extremely powerful. Today, the rates of kids in foster care are very high because of the opioid crisis. A wave of children will be facing the consequences of childhood trauma in the very near future. One way to tamp that down in some way is if there is a loving adult making a difference in their life.
Lopez: You write about understanding success as “living in God’s purpose, grace, and truth knowing that the past is forgiven and the future is bright.” How crucial is this?
Andersen: You can find all the human success in the world through degrees or awards and accolades, but those things ultimately fade and leave you feeling unfulfilled. Knowing you are enough and that your imperfections don’t define you is a lasting peace and joy that nothing can replace. In a culture so bent on finding the next high of fame or credibility, it’s important to be grounded in the knowledge that no matter what we do or what we do or don’t achieve, we are saved by grace and loved unconditionally.
Lopez: “Politics and culture have some catching up to do when it comes to truly helping America’s most vulnerable, forgotten citizens,” you write. Is there a starting point you’d recommend to redirect us all? Is it possible in today’s hyper-politicized, hyper-sensitive, well, just plain, hyper atmosphere?
Andersen: There are so many ways to address this crisis. I say we attack top-down, bottom-up, and from all angles. For example, in dealing with the drug crisis, it’s great that the government is taking it so seriously and addressing the problem with education programs and prevention efforts. We shouldn’t risk believing that government can fix everything. though. We need non-profits and churches and community programs to develop in some of places most affected by despair, poverty, and addiction. I’d love to see church plants take root in some of these places where religious life has really diminished and people have lost hope and purpose.
Lastly, it is our responsibility as individuals — as citizens and as Christians — to love our neighbors where they are. Maybe it’s a neighbor that’s a little further down the road, but we should find ways to reach out to the people and places most affected by the crisis, where kids are being neglected and parents have lost hope. It’s not easy, but we always have the ability to reach out personally in some way, whether through donations, volunteering, educating, or being present. We all need to work together to do our part to help those in this country who need it most.
COMMENTS
— Kathryn Jean Lopez is a senior fellow at the National Review Institute and an editor-at-large of National Review.
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Print Marked Items
Leaving Cloud 9
Publishers Weekly.
265.20 (May 14, 2018): p52.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Leaving Cloud 9
Ericka Andersen.Thomas Nelson, $24.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-4002-0827-2
In this heart-wrenching book, Andersen, former writer for the National Review, candidly shares the
inspiring life story of her husband, Rick Sylvester. Sylvester grew up with an abusive mother on a trailer
park called "Cloud 9"--a depressingly ironic misnomer--in rural Arizona. Sylvester and his younger sister,
Jenny, were victims of neglect, abuse, and ongoing trauma as their mother stumbled through life in a haze
of drugs and alcohol. Andersen highlights the many horrors Sylvester endured in his poverty-stricken
environment, including violence, his mother's prostitution, and her multiple suicide attempts. These
harrowing experiences left him struggling through adulthood with PTSD as well as bipolar disorder. After
two failed marriages, Sylvester met Andersen through an online dating site and the two began to carve out a
healthy future together centered on their mutual faith in Christ. "Rick's life is God-given proof that there's
something better out there," she writes. "You don't need the right parents or family or job or even
opportunity to find it. It's by God and only by God that it's found." Using Sylvester's horrific childhood as
an example, Andersen explores how relying on faith can help those who have suffered trauma overcome
their circumstances. Rick's story will appeal to Christian readers looking for an uplifting story of
perseverance. (July)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Leaving Cloud 9." Publishers Weekly, 14 May 2018, p. 52. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A539387465/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=96e2cc6b.
Accessed 30 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A539387465
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An End to Numbness: Rick Sylvester was
a broken child on the path to becoming a
broken adult--until God intervened
Mary Demuth
Christianity Today.
62.5 (June 2018): p76.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Christianity Today, Inc.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/
Full Text:
The great beauty of the Christian narrative is redemption, and redemption shines powerfully through Ericka
Andersen's Leaving Cloud 9: The True Story of a Life Resurrected from the Ashes of Poverty, Trauma, and
Mental Illness*****. In its pages, Andersen chronicles the tumultuous upbringing of her husband, Rick
Sylvester--a sordid tale of neglect, home instability, drug abuse, and the kind of fending for oneself that
hints of Oliver Twist. Rick and his sister, Jenny, are shuffled between their poverty-stricken, drug-addicted
mother, Sylvia, and their grandparents, who felt them a colossal inconvenience.
One Christmas Eve in Colorado, the struggling family faced homelessness. Sylvia parked outside a bar as
Rick and Jenny shivered beneath a blanket. As Andersen describes the scene, "The numbness--both from
the cold and the emotions--began to settle over them like the blanket." Their mother brought a man back
into the car, drove to a dilapidated motel, took him inside for half an hour while leaving the car running
outside, and then summoned her children inside after the man left. They had a home that Christmas--a dank
motel secured through a quick sexual encounter.
When his mother attempted suicide after an assault from a violent man, a young Rick called 911. "This
wasn't the first time Sylvia pulled a stunt like this," Andersen explains. "She was prone to attempting
suicide.... This was Rick and Jenny's normal. They didn't even know how to be scared anymore, because
when scary things happened, numbness took over."
This numbness typifies an unstable childhood. And the research doesn't paint a pretty picture of adult
children of neglect and trauma. I pay attention to the studies surrounding broken homes and childhood
trauma because I share much of Rick and Jenny's story. As pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris writes,
"Children are especially sensitive to this repeated stress activation, because their brains and bodies are just
developing. High doses of adversity not only affect brain structure and function, they affect the developing
immune system, developing hormonal systems, and even the way our DNA is read and transcribed." While
it is absolutely true that when a person meets Jesus, the old is gone and the new dawns (2 Cor. 5:17), it's
important we don't neglect wisdom and research. The truth is: Broken childhoods break adults.
After living in constant chaos, Rick later was diagnosed with PTSD, something he still struggles with. He is
hyper-vigilant and battles anger, anxiety, and mental-health issues.
A deft journalist, Andersen relates the details of her husband's childhood to the problems of poverty,
fatherlessness, drug addiction, domestic violence, homelessness, and mental illness in America. When
statistics surrounding these ills are packaged into a narrative, they make an enduring impression precisely
because a story frames them--in this case, the true tale of a boy seemingly destined to repeat the patterns of
the past as he reaches adulthood. And yet he doesn't.
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Rick met Jesus in Washington, DC, through National Community Church as he read its pastor Mark
Batterson's The Circle Maker and attended the church alongside Andersen, then his girlfriend. "I had hit
rock bottom," he explains in the book. "I was a broken man, and I wanted to be healed.And the way they
made it sound at this church-God could be the healer--I hadn't ever taken that to heart before. I was tired of
walking around so empty."
Rick's journey from emptiness toward wholeness comes at the very end of the book, and the reader is left
wondering what that process may have looked like. Perhaps this is because Rick is still living this story, as a
married father of two who longs to forge a new path for his children. He has drilled a hard-won stake in the
ground, empowered by the transformation Jesus brings. You'll find hope woven in the pages of his
biography, though Rick's childhood will make you want to scoop him up, rescue him and his sister, and
spirit them away to a loving, secure home.
Andersen could have strengthened the power of the narrative, however, by giving more space to Rick's own
feelings and words. She does an amazing job telling her husband's story for the reader. But because it is her
recounting it, we miss out on Rick's emotional landscape and his immediate reactions to serial traumas.
Nonetheless, Leaving Cloud 9 is a powerful story, well worth reading for the sake of empathy. You will
crawl into the lives of children at risk, feel their desperation, and find a pathway toward redemption.
BY MARY DEMUTH
MARY DEMUTH is an author and speaker. She blogs at marydemuth.com.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Demuth, Mary. "An End to Numbness: Rick Sylvester was a broken child on the path to becoming a broken
adult--until God intervened." Christianity Today, June 2018, p. 76. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A544512209/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=81f689d5.
Accessed 30 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A544512209