A Soul Lives On
A Mother’s Memoir of Grief, Astrology, and the Afterlife
“Where there is great love, there are always miracles” ~ Willa Cather
When my twelve-year-old daughter died of a brain tumor, my heart was shattered. It was inconceivable to me that she was gone, and I didn’t know if I would be able to survive the loss. But then hope came from the most unexpected places. Comfort from other women who understood my grief. Solace in the stars. Proof of an afterlife. In her death, my daughter gave me my life back.
On November 5, 2007, my world and my family’s world changed forever. That’s the day that our nine-year-old daughter, Hannah Rebecca Hunt, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Twenty months later, after horrific treatment and agonizingly slow recovery, her cancer returned. Nearly three years after Hannah was diagnosed, she died. The story is still unbelievable to me, even though I lived it. And now I’m sharing our story.
When I was young, my mom used to tell me that I would become a writer or a journalist. Back then, those paths never appealed to me. It wasn’t until my daughter got sick, and I began writing an online journal about her saga, that I began to contemplate telling Hannah’s story. Still, it wasn’t until years after her death that the book crystalized in my mind. I had to give it time. I had to grieve. I had to wait for what the book had to say.
Now eleven years since Hannah passed, I have a book to share. It’s not just a story of my grief. It’s not just a tale of how I survived. It’s not just a tribute to my beloved daughter. It is all that, but so much more.
When Hannah died, I was devastated. Even though I had three older sons and a loving husband, I didn’t know how or if I would survive her death. We were that close. But then miracles began to happen. Angels appeared at my door in the form of new friends. Information was uncovered about the purpose of Hannah’s life and mine, through the lens of astrology. And mystical, magical events occurred that I couldn’t have created by myself.
My daughter had found a way to reach out to me from beyond the grave. She reminded me that she was never truly gone. She helped reveal a new life for me. She brought me back to life.
I wish we were still together in this earthly life. But I know she’s busy behind the scenes, while I still have work to do in this lifetime. Someday, she’ll meet me in the hereafter, and all will be well.
I am not a perfect writer, but I think it’s a great story to tell. After many rewrites, significant editorial contributions, and a fair amount of Kleenex, the book is finished. I am self-publishing through IngramSpark, with the assistance of my current editor, Beth Wright. I hope to see the book released in the fall of 2021 where it may be found at your favorite independent and online booksellers.
Because Hannah’s story involves the pediatric cancer world, a portion of the proceeds from the book will go to the Seattle Children’s Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Fund, (the same group that sponsors The Seattle Run of Hope.) I believe that given the phenomenal progress that has been made in the research world, Hannah may have survived her brain tumor, had she been diagnosed today.
Hannah and me, 2009