Author | Storyteller | Medical Mom | Bereaved Parent
Welcome!
If you are here because we know each other, thank you for pausing to visit. And if we haven’t met yet, thank you for finding your way here. Either way, I invite you to explore and hope you find things you were not expecting or ways that we might connect.
For those who don’t know me, I would like to tell you a bit about myself. I am honoured to be the mother of four children. I became unexpectedly immersed in the medical world when my daughter Haley was a toddler, and haven’t left, spending years as a volunteer sharing my lived experiences in health care with professional and student audiences, then working to support others sharing theirs.
I wrote my first book, happy faces only: the story of a little girl who lived, for familes like ours who have a child with medical challenges and for the people who care for them and about them. I am currently immersed in the messy process of writing my second book. The title swirling in my head is a secret as I am a very private writer (until I’m ready to publish and then I don’t feel private at all) but my daughter refers to it as sad faces only!
happy faces only
the story of a little girl who lived
Now available!
Haley was born perfectly healthy, but her world and that of her family changed drastically 17 months later. She became a patient, her mom became a medical mom, and their family started on a path that was filled with medical twists and turns, incredible joys, and shattering sorrows.
Haley died at age 11, but more importantly than that, Haley truly lived. This is the story of a family’s journey, both within the hospital and in their regular world, and the compassionate care and support they received from those expected to offer it, and from so many who were surprising participants in Haley’s life. It is at its core an unforgettable love story. happy faces only is not simply a title, but a little girl's approach to living – find out why on the pages inside.
How happy faces only is supporting others
In support of the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation and Kids with Cancer Society, twenty-five percent of the proceeds from happy faces only will be donated to each organization.
