This work is dedicated to my mother, Elizabeth Zintl, who died in the middle of her Midlife Rites of Passage at 45.After her last words to me at seventeen, her hand went limp in mine, and she closed her eyes for the final time. I will never forget that cold January day that she died.I had always wished and prayed she could have survived that dark divide and made it to her Second Act of Life. Then, the day came when I too turned forty-five, and I also felt like I could die. That time was so dark and dangerous, I could easily see how so many do not make it out alive, or just die inside and never come back to life.
And I realized that what I needed was what my mother had needed before me.
She needed a Midlife Midwife.
And so did I, but no one else was talking about the Midlife Rites.
So, ever the Dark Feminine Archaeologist and Explorer, and like I did with the Maiden to Mother Rites before, I created my own Midlife Rites of Passage. But I- nor others- should never have had to go alone.

So now this is what I know:
Every Woman Deserves a Midlife Midwife.

Every woman deserves deep support at her midlife crossroads.