Apr 27, 2021
Melissa Bernstein is mother to six amazing children, wife to her best friend and business partner, Doug, and co-founder of the successful toy company, Melissa & Doug. Melissa, whose mind, heart and hands create joy, has for all her life lived under a heavy cloud of despair. It was not until her 50th year that she discovered that she suffered from existential depression. This discovery saved her life and spurred her to write LifeLines an inspirational journey from profound darkness to radiant light.
Since its inception, Melissa and Doug has focused on creating authentic, innovative, high quality toys at assessable prices, toys which promotes open-ended, creative free play for new generations of children. The company's mission is to ignite imagination and a sense of wonder in children so they can discover themselves, their passions and their purpose in space.
Creating gave meaning and purpose to Melissa's existence and by channeling her pain into tangible forms, she could, for a time extinguish her despair. In LifeLines, she shares her journey and the stunningly beautiful poetry she's written all her life, the words that literally kept her alive.