Dear Martina,

I received your manuscript while on the road ... and ensconced myself in a hotel room one Saturday... Reading the entire manuscript in one day with no contact with other people may have influenced my interaction with the subject and events you share with your readers. 

I became totally immersed in the book, to the point that I felt pulled in to the space and emotions you were sharing.  At least, as "pulled in" as one can get who has not experienced the death of a spouse.  I do not presume that I can fully relate to that place of darkness reserved for those who have walked your path.  I can only resonant with the similarities you describe with my own dark night of the soul. 

While reading your poems and journal entries, I felt that the depth in which you journeyed was the abyss within the cave that most of us skim past lest we lose our footing and fall into insanity.  But you, Martina, chose to free-fall into the abyss and, more importantly, found Love there to bring you back into the light. 

This journey was a dark, dank, lonely, long, unpleasant period of time that many would shove into the background of their lives once they were on solid ground but, again, you are displaying your courage by sharing your experience not to just a few but to the world in the form of a book. 

As I was reading Invisible Connections, I became more and more uncomfortable with the depths of emotions which were being stirred within me. But, as I continued, I became aware that I was walking beside you as you shared your sadness, despair, fear, confusion and the many unanswered questions.  You were giving me a gift - the gift of compassion.  Through your words, you taught me how to be a companion to those who have walked this same journey. 

...When I returned home after reading your manuscript, X visited for a week.  Many times over the past few months, I have been at a loss as to how to be with her.  This time, I let go.  I let go of the need for answers.  I let go of "shoulds."  In this surrender, Love emerged.  A Love that accepts All There Is because It is ALL.

And so, once again, Martina, I find myself thanking you.  Thank you for sharing your experience through your book so that we can learn to sit with others dealing with a death of a loved one.  Your ability to express such deep heartfelt emotions through your journal entries and, especially through your poetry, opened my heart. 

I believe your book will also prove to be a companion to those who are now walking through their own dark night of the soul, giving them permission to express the myriad of emotions emerging at such a time.  It is my personal philosophy that those who travel to their depths are capable of higher summits.  You, Martina, are a mountain climber!

With Love,

Karla