Who am I ?

I’m Cidalisa De Braga (Lisa), a memoirist and essayist writing about love, resilience, motherhood, forgiveness, and the unexpected ways life asks us to begin again.

For years, I rebuilt my life, raised my children as a single mother, and learned how to stay steady even when the ground shifted beneath me. My writing comes from those lived places—the quiet courage of ordinary days, the ache and beauty of letting go, and the moments that transform us when no one is watching.

In 2021, I reunited with a long-lost love after thirty-six years apart, a story that led me to a life lived between two countries and two worlds. Much of my work explores that space: belonging, return, distance, and the freedom that comes from choosing yourself.

My memoir, This Time, I Stayed: A Memoir of Enduring Love, is now available.

My next book, The Quiet Work of Becoming: Essays on Love, Forgiveness, and Transformation, is a collection of personal essays about the experiences that shaped me, the things I’ve carried, and the woman I’ve become along the way.

I continue to write memoir, essays, and poetry, following the stories that ask to be told and allowing the rest to arrive in their own time.

Thank you for being here. I hope my words make you feel a little less alone.