Praying for Peace: A Journey to Serenity

Naima Tryman's life was a disaster. She endured an abusive childhood, severe ethnic and gender identity issues, the tragic deaths of numerous loved ones, and a near-fatal car accident all before she graduated from high school. The next ten years were no better as more people died, she struggled through college (eventually failing out), and developed a drinking problem. She went on to become the first African-American female firefighter in her town, and she thought that things would turn around for her, but they only worsened. Her depression deepened and the drinking got worse. She wanted desperately to turn her life around, but she didn't know where to start. Things continued to get worse for her as her surrogate son was taken from her and she was in another serious car accident. No matter what she did, she couldn't get herself together. Her attempts at both rehabilitation and suicide were repeatedly unsuccessful and she was on the verge of being fired from the fire department. While her story is remarkable in itself, the strides she took to finally get it together are truly inspirational.

Naima Tryman currently resides in Woodland Park, NJ. She’s been a firefighter for seven years. She is an assistant basketball coach at Montclair High School, and is a full-time psychology student at Montclair State University. She is beginning a career in motivational speaking and teaches karate in her spare time.