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Jun 29, 2019

"One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter." --James Earl Jones

Coastal Communication: A Mother and Son's Moving Collaboration

When New York based author and social activist, Jane Jackson suffered an aneurysm, it affected both her memory and language skills. Over the months that followed she recovered through the unconditional support of her family, and the power of poetry. As a way to promote healing and reestablish language skills, she and her son began writing poems together. The poems were crafted line by line in emails sent back and forth across the continent. Together they wrote about the simple memories they shared and of the beautiful and difficult moments they were experiencing as her mind regained facility with words. Their unique collaboration resulted in a book of over 70 poems titled Coastal Communication. The following excerpts from it reveal not just the healing power of words, but also the power of love to find a way through our greatest challenges.