'They Didn't Break Me': Cranford Author Shares Powerful Story

CRANFORD, NJ — This Cranford woman has been through it all — sex trafficking, cancer, murder and more. Now Lockey Maisonneuve is sharing her journey to heal in her memoir “A Girl Raised By Wolves.”

Her story begins as a child where Maisonneuve grew up with abusive, alcoholic parents. As an adolescent, her father sold her into sex trafficking where she endured unspeakable sexual, physical and emotional abuse for years.

She later was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent two mastectomies. While enduring this, her estranged mother was stabbed and brutally murdered.

Despite enduring all of this, Maisonneuve was able to heal.

“Here’s the thing; they didn’t break me,” Maisonneuve said. “Throughout my entire healing journey, this has been my mantra. They didn’t break me.”

“I attribute it to yoga, journaling and therapy,” Maisonneuve said.

She began seeing a therapist who encouraged her to start journaling.

“In the very, very beginning I would share it in pieces and try to figure out what this person can handle hearing,” she said. “It came out choppy and weird and made me feel embarrassed.”

Then in 2006, Maisonneuve walked into Alluem Yoga in Cranford and it changed everything.

“I had my yoga classes and started noticing that I was able to speak clearer,” Maisonneuve said. “I realized I don’t have to apologize for my story. I can trust that others can hear this information and do with it whatever they want to do with it.”

Through taking yoga classes and then moving on to teach yoga at prisons and inner-city schools, Maisonneuve was able to understand the more she shared the more she was inspiring others to heal themselves.

In the memoir, readers will be surprised to find humor interlaced in her story. This is Maisonneuve’s true self and is a way for her to cope through the experience.

“My whole thing is that anything I share, I incorporate humor into it because it is ingrained in me, Maisonneuve said. “I can always see the humor in it. And I think it softens the blow for others.”

“In the beginning it was really hard but now I can share my story openly and honestly. Because I am OK with the way I share it and sharing it and makes other people OK with hearing it,” she added.

Maisonneuve noted that many who have read her story have connected with it and are able to learn to heal from any traumatic experience.

Maisonneuve will read excerpts from her book and share the tools and techniques she used along her healing journey including guiding students through breathing and meditation techniques that can be used in everyday challenging situations at several upcoming local events including in Cranford.

Upcoming events:

• Sept. 15: Monmouth Yoga, Monmouth Beach, noon to 2 p.m.
• Sept.16: Rock River Yoga Boonton, 1 to 3 p.m.
• Sept. 29: South Street Yoga and Nutrition, Morristown, 3 to 5p.m.
• Oct. 13: Alluem Yoga, Cranford, 1 to 3 p.m.
• Nov. 3: Vhakti Barn Yoga, Millburn

The Cranford event holds a special meaning for Maisonneuve.

“I live in Cranford, my husband is on the Township Committee, my daugther is in the high school and my son just graduated,” Maisonneuve said. “This is where it all started and brings it all back. I will always hold a special place in my heart for Alluem Yoga.”

For more information or to buy Lockey Maisonneuve’s book “A Girl Raised By Wolves” visit agirlraisedbywolves.com or Amazon.

(Image by Starky Morillo Photography: Lockey Maisonneuve)

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