Tracy Cheri Jones: No Bullshit, From Trauma to Taxidermy

From being coached to lie to CPS at four years old…
to ending up on a psych ward as a teaching case…
Tracy has survived more than most people can imagine.

And somehow, she didn’t just survive… she rebuilt everything.

Summary

This episode of Ducking Realitea is a conversation about survival, self-rescue, and what it actually takes to rebuild a life when you were never given a solid foundation to begin with.

Siobhan sits down with Tracy of Black Widow Bottles, whose work in wet taxidermy feels almost poetic when you understand where it comes from. Tracy opens up about a childhood filled with abuse, a system that failed her, and the reality of being sent back to her abuser with a “he’s cured” stamp. She shares what it looked like to run away and live on the streets, become a young mom without any roadmap, spiral into addiction, and hit a point where she didn’t think she’d make it out, twice.

But this isn’t just about what she survived.

It’s about what she did next.

Years of therapy. Inpatient treatment. Finding the right combination of support, medication, and sheer will to keep going. Fighting to get her kids back. Learning how to exist in a body and mind that had only ever known survival mode. And eventually, creating art that honors life, grief, and memory in a way that feels deeply human.

She also speaks honestly about the parts that don’t tie up neatly, losing her daughter to addiction, navigating complicated grief with her mother, and learning how to set boundaries with family without apology.

If you’ve ever felt too far gone, too broken, or too behind to fix your life, this episode is your reminder:

Healing is messy. It’s nonlinear. And it’s still possible.

Tracy Cheri Jones

Tracy is the artist behind Black Widow Bottles, where she creates deeply intentional wet taxidermy and pet memorial pieces that honor life rather than just preserve it. Her work sits at the intersection of grief, beauty, and storytelling, giving people something tangible to hold onto when they’ve lost something they love.

A survivor of severe childhood abuse, homelessness, addiction, and complex PTSD, Tracy has spent decades doing the work—therapy, recovery, and rebuilding her life from the ground up. Today, she channels that lived experience into both her art and her voice, showing others what resilience can actually look like.

💡 Key Takeaways

  • Believing Survivors Matters
    When kids aren’t believed, it doesn’t just hurt in the moment, it rewires how they trust the world.

  • Trauma Doesn’t Stay in the Past
    Complex PTSD shapes emotional regulation, self-worth, and decision-making long into adulthood.

  • Healing Takes More Than One Thing
    Therapy, medication, community, and time, all of it matters. There’s no single fix.

  • Parenting Without a Blueprint
    Trying to raise kids when you were never properly raised yourself is messy, but repair is still possible.

  • Grief Isn’t Clean or Fair
    Losing her daughter and her mother left questions that don’t have answers, and that’s part of the reality.

  • Art as Survival & Meaning
    Her work with memorials and taxidermy became a way to process grief, honor life, and create connection.

  • Boundaries Are Non-Negotiable
    Choosing peace over toxic family dynamics is not selfish—it’s survival.

  • Homelessness Is Human
    Life on the streets isn’t what people think, and kindness can go a long way.

“I survived so much, and I have never, ever abused anyone. Your trauma is not a free pass to hurt people.”

– Tracy

Support & Help:

Resources and Mentions

Contact us