About Me

Hello, I’m Monya Williams.

I am a mother, grandmother, widow, author, traveler, woman of faith, and survivor. My grandchildren call me Bonbon—a name that holds some of the sweetest pieces of my heart.

My life has been filled with beautiful memories, unexpected heartbreak, difficult lessons, and more than a few pebbles in my pockets.

In 2009, at the age of forty-six, I was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer. I endured a bilateral mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, and numerous reconstructive surgeries. Several years later, complications from additional surgeries left me with permanent facial paralysis. Altogether, I have undergone forty-nine surgeries.

For a long time, I believed healing meant getting my old life—and my old face—back. Eventually, I began to understand that healing does not always mean returning to who we once were. Sometimes it means learning to love and respect the person we have become.

My husband, Eric—my Frenchie—stood beside me through every version of that journey. We shared forty-three years of marriage, raised four children, welcomed beautiful grandchildren, traveled the world, and created a lifetime of memories together. When Eric died unexpectedly in Maui, I entered a chapter of life I never wanted and did not know how to live.

Grief changed me. It also taught me that love does not end when someone dies. Love changes form, but it remains—in our memories, in the lessons we carry, in the people we become, and in the quiet moments when heaven feels close.

My faith in Jesus Christ has been the steady thread running through my life. There have been times when I have questioned, struggled, and wondered why certain things were allowed to happen. Still, I have continued to reach for Him. I have learned that tender mercies do not always arrive as miracles that remove our trials. Sometimes they are the people who sit beside us, the strength to survive one more day, or a quiet assurance that we have not been forgotten.

Writing has helped me make sense of the things I could not control. My first book, I CAN-CER VIVE: Live Free, Choose Joy, shares my journey through cancer and my determination to keep living joyfully. My second book, Pebbles in My Pockets: Letting Go of the Things You Cannot Control, reaches more deeply into healing, forgiveness, loss, grief, and the courage it takes to release what has become too heavy to carry.

I spent more than thirty years working in the travel industry, including over two decades with American Airlines. Travel has always reminded me that life is larger than the moment I am standing in. I love discovering beautiful places, experiencing different cultures, and helping others create memories with the people they love.

This blog is where I share my heart honestly—the joyful parts, the painful parts, and everything in between. I write about faith, family, cancer, facial paralysis, grief, travel, forgiveness, healing, and learning to live again when life does not unfold as planned.

I do not have every answer. I am still learning, still healing, still missing my Frenchie, and still discovering who I am in this new chapter. But I believe we can carry sorrow and gratitude at the same time. We can miss what was while remaining open to what may still be ahead. We can let go of
the pebbles without letting go of the love.

If you are carrying things in your pockets that no one else can see, I hope you will feel understood here. I hope my words remind you that you
are not alone, that your story still matters, and that even after the hardest chapters, there can still be joy.

I am Monya—imperfect, faithful, a little bruised, deeply grateful, and still choosing to live.