At The End of The Storm

If Daria Demarest didnt have ice water in her veins like her coalminer father taught her life might look bleak. Shes divorcing successful but unfaithful Ted. Shes lost her glam job as a network morning show host and shes discovered that Teds secret gambling habit drained their substantial savings. With no alimony shes raising two teens in 1990s image-is-all Connecticut. Though she abandoned spiritual aspirations in the freewheeling sixties when pregnant by an anti-war activist who chose causes over commitment Daria creates Awakenings a show for women seeking healing in everything from aromatherapy to mindfulness meditation. Shes back on top until during a winter storm her teen daughter Lizzy announces shes pregnant. Walking through Lizzys pregnancy Daria faces her own mothers rejection and unyielding judgments that led Daria to surrender her firstborn. If shame and fear hadnt ruled her as a pregnant teen she wonders would she have kept her first child? Could she have allowed T.J. Townsend her steadfast college admirer to love her? When Daria arranges to meet her first daughter the reunion stirs up more than it resolves. Angelas an actress who proves to be as us unforgiving as she is talented. Desperate after Angelas rejection Daria struggles to find the same healing shes offered her TV audience. Then T.J. now a noted alternative physician appears on Darias show offering her opportunities she passed up years earlier.Is she ready for the man who loved her when she couldnt love herself? Shes not sure. The only way to find out is to walk no matter how haltingly through whatever storms ensue relying on her untested faith and newfound relationships with family and friends. Marleen Paschs short fiction creative nonfiction and articles on health healing and spirituality appear in numerous journals and anthologies. As a writing coach she helps aspiring writers find their power on the page. A Cornell graduate she is a member of the National Womens Book Association. She lives and writes in South Florida.