Table of Contents

Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Part One

Coming Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Getting to Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Support for a Mother's Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Initiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Medicine Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Life upon the Wicked Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

To Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Spring Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

The Dying Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Celebrations of Ken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Part Two

Reacting to the News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Dreams and the Kindness of Strangers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Preparations for a Healing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

To Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Beyond the Ends of the Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Extremely High-Tech Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Bone Marrow Summer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

One Hundred Days Plus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Dancing on the Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Saying Good-Bye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Midwifery Again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Ashes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

The Grandmother Ceremony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

About the Author

Sheila K. Collins, PhD has been a dancer, social worker, university professor, clinic director, writer, and improvisational performance artist. She currently directs the Wing & A Prayer Pittsburgh Players, an InterPlay-based improvisational performance troupe that assists human service agencies in serving noble purposes in the Pittsburgh community. Sheila has written about the power of play, dance, and the expressive arts in her book, Stillpoint: The Dance of Selfcaring, Selfhealing,a playbook for people who do caring work and on her blog, Dancing With Everything which is on her website, sheilakcollins.com. Her forthcoming book, to be published by She Writes Press, Warrior Mother: A memoir of fierce love, unbearable loss, and rituals that heal comes out in April, 2013. ;

Reviews

“We have to make art out of what happens to us,’ writes Sheila K. Collins. Warrior Mother is a testament to how art making, done in a sacred context, can transform tremendous loss. Collins reminds us of the endurance and healing power of love—especially a mother’s love.”
—Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew, author of Writing the Sacred Journey:The Art and Practice of Spiritual Memoir
“Just as love survives death, so too does spirit supplant mere survival. Collins has faced a parent’s worst fears and learned to still dance in their wake. Warrior Mother is a mother’s manual of profound honesty, hope, and healing.”
—Marc Nieson, author of Schoolhouse: A Memoir in 13 Lessons
“With courage and grace, Warrior Mother generously invites the reader on a heartbreaking journey, with equal doses of candor and sensitivity. Admirably free of self-pity, physically and emotionally precise, this story is bound to enlighten others who have grieved and healed from the loss of a child.”
—Sarah Saffian, author of Ithaka: A Daughter’s Memoir of Being Found