Brenda Heckert weathers life’s storms with a positive mindset despite a past that includes a verbally abusive father, complicated pregnancies, years as a devoted mother to her autistic son, a sister with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS / Lou Gehrig’s disease), a mother with Alzheimer’s Disease, and a difficult divorce. She realized a long time ago that there is no normal…and that became a mantra she’s so passionate about that she had it copyrighted.

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Brenda and her younger sister, Holly, didn’t doubt that they were loved…thanks to their mother, Bernice, an Edith Bunker type who doted on her girls. Brenda pokes fun at the kid she was in middle school — very pale complexion with cat-eye blue glasses that accentuated her big ears. She felt that part of her younger days had to be spent making those around her laugh. She was also a star in school plays.

Brenda spent multiple summers waitressing in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where she served up her often-self-deprecating brand of humor alongside southern French cuisine at Chez La Mer. It was in Rehoboth that she met and married a young handsome doctor. Settling in the neighboring town of Lewes, she and her husband decided to start a family, never knowing it would be a long process. Her attempts to have a baby eventually led to two in vitro fertilizations and a triplet pregnancy. Only one of her triplets survived, her son Grayson, just 2 pounds, 1 ounce at birth, who was later diagnosed as autistic. Grayson became Brenda’s inspiration for the title of her website, There Is No normal.co. Those words are extremely important to her because she wants women to know that there’s no need to search for what society perceives as “normal.” That pursuit can be exhausting.

At Age 40, Brenda began a career in acting and comedy to include TV commercials and small parts in HBO’s “The Wire” and Netflix’s “House of Cards.” She credits her acting, stand-up comedy, and improv comedy with helping to maintain her sense of humor throughout the many hurdles she was able to overcome. While navigating her son’s education and her husband’s health issues with his heart, Brenda became a caregiver to her mother, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and her sister, diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Both passed away in 2011. Brenda’s marriage ended in 2014.

So how the heck do you weather all of these challenges?

You make the decision to share your story in an effort to help others. Today Brenda is a national speaker and storyteller, intent on connecting with women of all ages and backgrounds who feel worn down by life’s seemingly endless obstacles. She can speak with experience about many of them — children with special needs, divorce, multiple family illnesses, and the everyday struggle to refrain from comparing ourselves to others.

If Brenda has learned one lesson through the years, it’s this: There is no normal.