Once Without Dying

Once Without Dying explores the unfolding friendship between Sheeawna, Akilah and Mali. As a child, when she overcomes death, Sheeawna, the protagonist, learns the extent of her religious mother's hatred for her. She survives the onslaught with Grampy's guidance and support, until his death when she is a teenager. For comfort, she begins an intimate relationship with Kevin, a boy her age. As a young talented adult Sheeawna is under Kevin's manipulation. Breaking free of him she finds a new love interest, only to be drawn in again by Kevin, until he can no longer escape his comeuppance. She meets Akilah after the house she and her husband, Halim, rent from Sheeawna's boss explodes. Halim dies. Sheeawna's college roommate Mali is raped by her boyfriend after they break up. The three women help each other through a variety of challenges, uncover their commonalities and discover love's finest nature. They embrace the fulfillment of an ancient legend symbolized by a powerful medallion handed down to Sheeawna from her Toltec grandmother. Three young women pursue a common purpose with Claire, a mystic; Rebekah, a female rabbi; her son Michael, a Zenist; Dakota, an elderly artist who follows Native American spirituality and Harry, who believes love is the way.

Once Without Dying grew from the paradoxes of my youth. People who claimed to "know" the heart of God, knew nothing of compassion and little of love. Oh, they professed it, but with qualification. I had to believe like they did to be worthy of their love and attention. In the process of finding what was right for me, I discovered that the religion of my youth was not the only one proclaiming it had the one true path to God. A college class in multicultural understanding and a book by Huston Smith on world religions confirmed this. I realized that where I was born and the orientation of my parents largely determined the religion I would grow up with. If I were born in India, I would more than likely be Hindu. If I were born in Iran, I would probably be Muslim. If born in Israel, I would likely be Jewish. If born in Italy, I would more than likely be Christian - Catholic. If born in Alabama, I might be Christian - Southern Baptist. Geographical location and cultural context were key to my subsequent beliefs, not, as I had been led to believe, God's divine intervention. Within this realization the motivating force and one of the themes for this work were born.