HOST JACKIE TANTILLO -A Mental Health Journey that Began with Forgiveness With Guest Singer, Voice And Piano Teacher Christen Horne

<p>Christen Horne refers to herself as a nerd, geek and gamer. She's a big fan of reading and loves Star Wars.</p><p>As an accomplished singer, she received her Masters in Opera Performance. In addition to the entire family being singers and musicians, archery became a big part of their lives as well.  When Karla, Christen's mother, was in high school she became the California State Champion Archer and the family still enjoys the sport today. </p><p>Having a mom that worked wasn't that unusual for Christen. Her mom had been a paralegal for years after completing her associates degree.  As the three children were growing up, Karla was  leading worship at the local church.  They spent a lot of time at the church. But my guest says she enjoyed it because they were always singing.</p><p>Ms. Horne fondly remembers her mom embracing whatever fun activities the kids would be involved in, including  going to water parks and going down the water slides together, playing board games and spending quality time involved with the family. Years ago, Christen was actively involved in her community theatre programs.  She fondly retells the story of  the production of  "Fiddler On The Roof," when her mom and aunt  were  "volun-told' that they  had to play village fathers.  There were no other boys/male actors to play the part.  They still laugh about it today.</p><p>Christen considered her mother as being firm yet compassionate when it came to disciplining the three kids.  Homework definitely took the priority especially over video games. Homework wasn't done, no one got  to play. Christen says  "mom was always really good about helping us find the balance in things. Making sure we had time to play  and making sure we got our homework done."  </p><p>It wasn't until Christen started to realize  that she often hid her emotions, that she started to recall other instances from her childhood that were clearly  unhappy. She had suffered from depression at a young age that was left undiagnosed. She felt that her mother was embarrassed wh