Non-fiction literary memoir chronicles aftermath of losing only child to heroin overdose at 23.
Swish: Maria in the Mourning
is an enlightening journey from a mother's perspective after losing her only child, the beautiful and charismatic Maria to a heroin overdose at 23. There are 32 five-star reviews on Amazon.
Excerpt
The very first dream after her death was horrible with two images only, and they came during my first sleep after knowing she was gone. All I remember were these broken toys: toys with cracks or holes in them, and this grotesque purple rectangular thing that waved back and forth; so disjointed, so discordant, and yet making perfect sense: my baby was gone, she had malfunctioned; had pieces missing; nothing was "playable," nothing was working, life was broken beyond repair; these were toys of revulsion, a childhood gone awry, Maria interrupted and intruded upon by death; toys in a room that would only prompt nightmares...unfixable, unappealing frightening shards of splintered hopes and the blackest of possibilities.The blackness was overwhelming. The universe had shifted. You never bury your child.
Rosetta was born in 1909 as the youngest of ten children. The family had more laughter than money and neighbors would knock on their door to ask, "Can we come in and laugh, too?"
She never felt safe at home as a young girl, and didn't understand why when she finally escaped she wasn't safe in the big wide world either ...effectively jumping out of the frying pan into the fire!
TRUE STORY. Bella survived an abusive powerbroker father with organized crime ties, a drug-addicted mother and a physically/sexually abusive brother. Shocking & inspirational. When she couldn't cry, she tattooed a crying angel to cry for her.
