Resilience: Moving Forward When You Can't Go Back Please join us for an Author Talk with Jennifer Crystal about her new memoir One Tick Stopped the Clock, a narrative of resilience and perseverance that gives personal voice to the collective journey that millions of chronic illness patients experience.

Bitten by a tick at age 19 but not diagnosed with Lyme disease and other chronic illness until her late twenties, Jennifer Crystal fell from the pinnacle of post-college momentum to the precipice of despair. Sidelined from her dream job as a ski instructor in the Rocky Mountains, Jennifer struggled with the identity loss that occurs when you can no longer fulfill expectations or do what you love.

Jennifer will talk about the havoc that tick-borne illness can cause, as well as about regaining health, refocusing broken dreams, and creating a new normal. Having spent much of her recovery in Wilton, Jennifer will also share the serendipitous role that Wilton Library happened to play in her journey toward wellness. The event will include a presentation, readings from the book, and Q&A.

Jennifer Crystal is now based outside of Boston, where she runs the remote Writing to Heal Immersive Program at Grub Street Creative Writing Center. For more than a decade, she has written about the chronic illness patient experience for the Global Lyme Alliance. Jennifer has also shared her story as part of many publications, podcasts, broadcasts, and webinars. She holds a B.A. from Middlebury College and an M.F.A. from Emerson College, and has completed a summer of study at the Bread Loaf School of English, and a Workshop in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University.