This community

Denise said goodbye to the man who loves her this weekend. The moment of his leave-taking left me in complete and sacred awe. I sat at my computer, reading her words, in tears. As wrenching as it is, some deaths can also be beautiful. This one was.

An hour later, I was live streaming the epilepsy conference in San Francisco at which our own Elizabeth Aquino was presenting. I was blown away by her power and conviction, by her beauty and assurance and truth. She said someone told her later that she was like "a bomb dropped in that room." She is telling Sophie's story, telling about the relief of her seizures brought about by cannabis, advocating for research, for compassion, for moral courage. She is changing lives.

Elizabeth's book, Hope for a Sea Change, about Sophie's first year of life, will be published by Shebooks.net in three days, on Wednesday June 11. I can hardly wait. Here is Shebook's description:

"When her three-month-old daughter Sophie is diagnosed with a rare seizure disorder, Elizabeth Aquino and her husband, Michael, are thrust into a nightmarish world of impossible decisions, toxic drug cocktails, and talk of brain surgery on their tiny child. As they grapple with the harrowing progression of their child’s seizures, they grow to understand that the doctors know little more about how to heal Sophie than they do. They are in a terrifying no-man’s-land. This narrative of unintended medical trauma and the search for healing through alternative means will sear you with its stubborn hope, unexpected grace, and abiding love."

Here's the cover: