"Every time the doorbell rang, I was afraid there'd be someone telling me my son was dead."

Expectations weigh on many of us, pressuring us to act, speak, dress and live a certain way. For Debbie Sledge, most of this pressure came from her country club parents, who demanded she present an image that would make them look good. Instead, she ran the other way, and asserted her independence with choices that did not fit with who she really was. But what drove her to the Steps was exactly what drove her away from the plans her parents had for her - control. Controlling her own life, and later her kids’ lives. She finally realized she had to “bury and have a funeral” for what she wanted most in life so she could be free to live it.