As you travel through life, you can't avoid pain: a dysfunctional childhood, difficult and unfulfilling relationships, serious illnesses, and heart-wrenching losses. However, if you bury the pain and fail to examine it, the impact can be long-lasting and affect who you are and who you want to become.

Pearls emerged from the ugliest, most painful period of Linda McNamara's life. She was in her fifties with a successful career and a happy home when her world imploded: she was diagnosed with lupus, a serious autoimmune illness. Then one of her sisters died suddenly at age forty-seven. Her husband of twenty-eight years didn't want to be married any longer and asked for a divorce. And her only son moved 2000 miles away to attend college. Linda had to sell her home, take an indefinite leave of absence from the job she loved, and go to live with her sister in another state because she was too sick to care for herself. After many months, the lupus stabilized to what would be her new normal. She returned to work, but she was on a roller coaster for the next eight years trying to balance a demanding job and a demanding illness. She finally had to stop work and go on disability.

Until lupus forced her to slow down, Linda never took the time to explore who she was or who she wanted to become. The illness gave her lots of time to think. Although she always hated writing, she began expressing her thoughts and feelings by journaling or writing short poems. By exploring her painful past, she gained insight into who she was and why she acted or reacted in certain ways. She became more self-aware and more aware of the needs of others.

Pearls acknowledges pain and struggles but also celebrates wit, wisdom, courage, and strength. The poet Jim Harrison once said, "Poetry, at its best is the language your soul would speak if you could teach your soul to speak." Linda's soul has spoken.