At the age of 39, I was diagnosed with early cognitive decline leading to Alzheimer's disease. Ironically, for years I worked as a caregiver in hospice and for the elderly. I helped many people with Alzheimer's and Dementia die. I realized from working with these clients, that as the brain degrades we are left mostly with our emotional imprints accumulated over a lifetime. I would see people's personalities “disappear" along with their memories. Our personalities are really just a composite story made up of all our experiences throughout life, mixed with a smattering of hereditary impulses. It was with these hospice clients I began to wonder what existed there behind these stories when the mind is disjointed and nearly gone? With a diagnosis of facing Alzheimer's myself, this question was more poignant than ever and was been the driving force behind The Journey of the In-Between.

<!--split-->

Told she has very little time to live, Maji desperately wants to leave her daughters with the wisdom of her greatest life lessons before she dies. She reflects on the identities she has held in the life she leaves behind: activist, nun, teacher, spiritualist, and mother. From her youthful attempts to save the world to her mind-opening spiritual enlightenment, Maji's story is one that explores not only what constitutes a good life, but what happens in the eternal mystery of death. Illustrated with beautiful hand-painted images and steeped in Eastern philosophy, The Journey of the In-Between tells the story of a quest for self-realization, fulfillment, feminine power, and the eternal love of motherhood.

This full-length novel and accompanying painting series were completed in March of 2022. It is available to order below.