What Happens When You Stop Running From Your Problems

In this powerful episode of CONTROL OR BE CONTROLLED, Darlington sits down with psychotherapist Ward Lassoe to explore the extraordinary life of Diane—a woman whose childhood was marked by abandonment, abuse, homelessness, and unimaginable hardship, yet who refused to let her past determine the person she would become. What began as a simple fifteen-minute classroom assignment during Ward’s graduate studies turned into years of conversations and nearly fifteen hours of recorded memories. Those conversations became the foundation for Diane: True Survivor, a memoir built from Diane’s own words, humor, reflections, and experiences. Born in London in 1960 and placed in an orphanage after her mother’s failed murder-suicide attempt, Diane was later uprooted to the South Bronx, where she endured years of abuse. By fourteen, she was pregnant and homeless. Yet through determination, faith, the kindness of unexpected “angels,” and an extraordinary capacity for forgiveness, Diane eventually built a meaningful life and raised eight children. Tragically, Diane passed away before the book was completed. But her voice lives on—not only through the memoir, but through recordings of her actual conversations with Ward, allowing listeners to hear her warmth, humor, honesty, and resilience firsthand. In this conversation, we explore how painful experiences can be transformed into meaning, how forgiveness can coexist with profound hurt, and how resilience can emerge from circumstances that seem impossible to overcome. Listen to Diane’s actual voice and hear excerpts from Ward’s conversations with her: https://www.diane-book.com/audio-excerpts