Our Journey
Our journey began at night. At nighttime with the stars shining brightly, preteen Lauren would take her finicky 5-pound chihuahua Phoebe for a last-minute walk before putting her to bed in her crate. Phoebe was too little to wander around in the dark unleashed, she needed protection from hawks or larger cats or dogs, so Lauren walked her around the yard in the evening. To pass the time until Phoebe found the perfect bathroom spot, Lauren would look up at the star constellations and imagine those who looked at those same stars thousands of years ago. She would make up stories in her head to pass the time.
These stories filled Lauren’s imagination and shared it with me, Paula, on the trips to karate practices. We both have practiced karate for over six years and achieved 2nd degree black belts, so the stories were plentiful and entertaining. Admiring Lauren’s creativity and wanting to be part of inventiveness, I asked Lauren if she would be interested in coming together to write one of her stories down as a book.
Sitting down putting thought to paper was seamless. We were able to shed the traditional roles of mother-daughter when we stepped on the mat in karate. We were equals when it came to martial arts and practiced and respected each other’s mental and physical strengths. We used the same mindset when writing. The creation of The Orion Express combined both our artistic ideas and we considered it a learning and bonding experience once the project was finished.
Life gets in the way as it usually does, and The Orion Express project was set aside as day-today living came to the forefront of our attention to our careers, family, and friends. Our life had been rewarding and challenging but that all changed at the beginning of 2022, which changed our lives forever.
When 2022 began, we knew it would be a rough year with my mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis. We tried to make her as comfortable as possible and give her the best quality of time she had left. What we didn’t know was that my mother-in-law would suddenly pass away two weeks into January. We had to leave my mother’s, Lauren’s grandmother’s death bed to mourn the passing of such a generous soul. My mother lasted three more weeks afterwards and heaven received another beautiful soul. These two mothers and grandmothers taught us how to love unconditionally, to strive to be the best of ourselves, and to always be childlike in this world – to view this life with wonderment and openmindedness. Seven months later, we would deal with another hardship in losing my father-in-law, Lauren’s grandfather. Heaven again became richer by receiving him. He imparted to us the value of family, helping others, and showing how actions of love can speak volumes. Sad to say, these tragedies were just the peak of what we endured that year
These losses stalled our everyday life. We took time to re-evaluate ourselves and figure what our true passions were. It was our writing, creating a world of adventure, the time as mother-daughter to bond in storytelling which gave us the most enjoyment. We decided to self-publish The Orion Express as well as collaborate with additional projects. We know that the three angels in heaven and the one that we are blessed to have with us would tell us to run towards what gives us the most pleasure in this life, to live each day to the fullest, and not take this life too seriously!
These stories filled Lauren’s imagination and shared it with me, Paula, on the trips to karate practices. We both have practiced karate for over six years and achieved 2nd degree black belts, so the stories were plentiful and entertaining. Admiring Lauren’s creativity and wanting to be part of inventiveness, I asked Lauren if she would be interested in coming together to write one of her stories down as a book.
Sitting down putting thought to paper was seamless. We were able to shed the traditional roles of mother-daughter when we stepped on the mat in karate. We were equals when it came to martial arts and practiced and respected each other’s mental and physical strengths. We used the same mindset when writing. The creation of The Orion Express combined both our artistic ideas and we considered it a learning and bonding experience once the project was finished.
Life gets in the way as it usually does, and The Orion Express project was set aside as day-today living came to the forefront of our attention to our careers, family, and friends. Our life had been rewarding and challenging but that all changed at the beginning of 2022, which changed our lives forever.
When 2022 began, we knew it would be a rough year with my mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis. We tried to make her as comfortable as possible and give her the best quality of time she had left. What we didn’t know was that my mother-in-law would suddenly pass away two weeks into January. We had to leave my mother’s, Lauren’s grandmother’s death bed to mourn the passing of such a generous soul. My mother lasted three more weeks afterwards and heaven received another beautiful soul. These two mothers and grandmothers taught us how to love unconditionally, to strive to be the best of ourselves, and to always be childlike in this world – to view this life with wonderment and openmindedness. Seven months later, we would deal with another hardship in losing my father-in-law, Lauren’s grandfather. Heaven again became richer by receiving him. He imparted to us the value of family, helping others, and showing how actions of love can speak volumes. Sad to say, these tragedies were just the peak of what we endured that year
These losses stalled our everyday life. We took time to re-evaluate ourselves and figure what our true passions were. It was our writing, creating a world of adventure, the time as mother-daughter to bond in storytelling which gave us the most enjoyment. We decided to self-publish The Orion Express as well as collaborate with additional projects. We know that the three angels in heaven and the one that we are blessed to have with us would tell us to run towards what gives us the most pleasure in this life, to live each day to the fullest, and not take this life too seriously!