Graceful Woman Warrior

Exploring love, loss, motherhood, spirituality, and self-discovery, this posthumous memoir is a culmination of a promise made to Terri Luanna da Silva when she whispered to her aunt, "I think I'm dying. I want you to tell people."

Forced to take an honest look at her own mortality after a Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer diagnosis, Terri started a blog about her journey. Reeling from the recent death of her mother to cancer, visionary Canadian artist, Jeanne Robinson, Terri asked the big questions in her quest to understand the grace lessons contained in the suffering.

Questions such as, Why in God’s name, or Buddha’s or the Universe did cancer strike me down at 37? How do I decide which treatment path to pursue? Who gets to choose? How do I parent my two-year-old through cancer? How do I find the strength to live my truth, go against the grain and chart my own holistic path? How and when do I decide it’s time? Time to die…

Taken directly from her blog, co-authors Terri Luanna da Silva, Laurie O'Neil and Terri's daughter, Marisa Alegria da Silva, weave Terri’s triumphant and tragic story together, creating a tapestry that not only enlightens, it inspires readers to awaken to their own lives and live and love more vividly, more fully, more fearlessly and more intently.

Graceful Woman Warrior: A Story Of Mindfully Living In The Face Of Dying, is a gutsy, thought-provoking and deeply moving posthumous memoir about mindfully living and dying with cancer. Compelled to use a Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer diagnosis as an opportunity to grow, learn and discover who she truly was, Terri Luanna da Silva started a blog about her journey. Riding the terrifying cancer treatment roller coaster of hope to despair over and over again, Terri struggled to balance her heart’s desire to treat her illness holistically with the brutality of traditional cancer treatment. Ultimately, she chose to go on a spiritual pilgrimage to Europe, surrounding herself with grace lessons, gratitude and spirituality in order to make life about living and not just avoiding death. 

Fulfilling a promise to her niece Terri, when she whispered, "I think I'm dying, I want you to tell people," co-author and aunt, Laurie O'Neil, along with Terri and her daughter, Marisa Alegria da Silva, take you on a sacred journey between, through and beyond life and death. Taken directly from Terri's blog, Graceful Woman Warrior offers a life perspective so rare, so powerfully transformative, so hopeful in the face of interminable darkness, it leaves a deep imprint on readers hearts.

A bold blueprint for navigating the sacred cycles of life and death, the authors invite you to open your heart to Terri's haunting yet ultimately transcendent story, with the full knowledge that in so doing, you are opening your heart to the possibility of reshaping, redefining or perhaps even rewriting the meaning of your own.

Graceful Woman Warrior: A Story Of Mindfully Living In The Face Of Dying, is a culmination of a promise that co-authors, Laurie O'Neil and Marisa Alegria da Silva, made to Terri Luanna da Silva when Terri whispered to her Auntie Laurie, "I think I'm dying. I want you to tell people."

Terri Luanna da Silva was born and raised on both coasts of Canada by two transcendent Canadian artists, Jeanne and Spider Robinson. A self-proclaimed NYC party girl, social worker, stay-at-home Mom and world traveler, Terri was determined not to become a starving artist like her parents. But a Stage 4 Breast Cancer diagnosis compelled Terri to blog about her journey, and her unique voice and indomitable spirit inspired people all over the world. Taken directly from her blog, Terri’s story offers a bold blueprint for navigating the sacred cycles of life, death and living beyond. Terri received her MSW from Hunter College and was featured on several TV and radio shows. Terri is survived by her husband, Heron, and her daughter, the magical Miss M.

Laurie O’Neil is a life-long writer who uses the written word as a voice for her life experiences. Laurie has devoted her 39-year social work career to empowering, enlightening and engaging others in the critical power of loving connection—to themselves, those they love, and their fellow human beings. Laurie received her MSW from Boston University and worked as an early intervention specialist, school social worker, and psychotherapist who specializes in grief and loss. Trained by Maria Trozzi in the Good Grief Program, Laurie co-developed The Caring Tree Family Grief Program, pioneered anti-bullying programming in the Dartmouth Public Schools and is a local activist and speaker. Laurie humbly embraces the titles, “Artist of Humanity” and “Love Hero,” bestowed upon her by her friend, Dr. Christa Johnson and great-niece, Miss M.

Marisa Alegria da Silva is a nine-year-old girl, writing songs, making art, having fun and most importantly eating candy. A fourth-grade student at James M. Quinn School, Marisa dreams of having her own horse and all the animals she dreams of. But for now, she can play with her favorite dog, Aura. And to this day, she will be happy, sad, excited, nervous and all those feelings. And her Mamãe will be doing all those things, too. In her memory, she can picture her and Mamãe baking a cake and licking the bowl together. And even though her Mamãe is not alive right now, Marisa knows Mamãe has all those feelings too and is busy creating beautiful sunsets, putting Marisa’s favorite songs on the radio, and visiting Marisa by sending a deer or two near her.