Finding Strength Through Faith and Prayer!

“I thank God I found faith early in life,” begins Independent Senior Sales Director Aurea McGarry. “It has been my guide to overcoming so much in my life.”

That’s a strong statement coming from a woman who has faced a lifetime of obstacles that would have knocked others down: a murdered father, an abusive marriage and a difficult battle with cancer.

The emotional and physical turmoil began when Aurea’s father, a prominent attorney, was murdered when she was a teenager.

Then, as a young woman, she married a man who turned out to be abusive. She didn’t recognize his extreme attentiveness stemmed from jealous and controlling behavior. His verbal abuse eventually escalated to physical abuse.

“After my ex-husband punched me in the eye in front of my four-year-old daughter, I began thinking that I needed to have some of my own money,” says Aurea. “Two weeks after my black eye healed, I found a Mary Kay phone number listed in the yellow pages, called the number and asked how to earn a pink Cadillac. That phone call changed my life.

“I began my Mary Kay business with a goal to send my daughter to private school. Working hard to achieve that, I earned a red Grand Am within a year. That car became my getaway car from my abusive marriage.

“My Mary Kay business gave me the self-esteem, the money and the car to flee my abusive situation. I want people to know that abuse in any form is not acceptable.

“Associating with my Mary Kay family, I started seeing happy marriages and supportive husbands. I started yearning for a harmonious relationship.”

In February 1996, Aurea married Brian McGarry, whom she describes as “her best friend and biggest cheerleader.”

For two years, life as a mother, wife and successful entrepreneur was blissful. Then, her beloved brother was struck with cancer. She felt numb — cancer had already taken her mother. Fortunately, her brother’s treatments proved successful, and he bounced back. But, shortly after he finished his chemotherapy in 1999, Aurea was shockingly diagnosed with cancer also.

Following extensive surgery, she was told she would never speak above a whisper again. Her Mary Kay family buoyed her up with continuous love, help and prayer. “The Mary Kay family builds one’s faith. That kind of support will keep you in the business forever and ever,” Aurea continues. “This Company has the biggest heart. I wouldn’t leave my Mary Kay business in a million years — there isn’t another business that can compare. Mary Kay’s legacy is still alive.”

As a testimony to her unwavering determination, not only has Aurea recovered her ability to speak, she currently excels as a motivational speaker. “You must be faithful to your dreams and be in action,” she states.

In 2007, Aurea authored the book I Won’t Survive … I’ll Thrive. She has appeared on several television talk shows across the country and is creator and host of the television show “Live Your Legacy with Aurea McGarry,” featuring people who are making this world a better place by giving their time and talents to nonprofit organizations. The show is broadcast on ION television from Atlanta, Ga., and worldwide through her Web site http://www.liveyourlegacy.biz.

“I’m so happy to be alive,” Aurea says. “It’s important to learn how to be happy through life’s obstacles.”