The Healing I Took Birth For

April 13, 2015
Fans of Stephen Levine (One Year to Live) know that his wife, Ondrea, is always part of the creative process behind his many popular books. In this seeker’s memoir, Ondrea’s voice is the one in the spotlight, as Stephen transcribes her story. Stephen writes in the first person as Ondrea, with less ease and intimacy than readers have come to expect. Her voice seems to have traveled some distance to Stephen’s pen. While there’s an unavoidable remoteness inherent in writing on someone else’s behalf, the effect may also be intentional. Ondrea’s childhood with her undemonstrative parents and her struggles with dyslexia have made it challenging for her to communicate clearly and intimately; Stephen has preserved Ondrea’s distancing by passively describing watershed moments rather than showing us directly how Ondrea experienced them. Details of the exceptional life the two have shared in their work with the dying and grieving, such as their interactions with Ram Dass, are more vivid. While reading Ondrea’s secondhand memoir is not a true “getting to know you” experience, it’s still inspiring to see how she has transformed her unhappy early experiences into a life’s work of helping others.