I began writing Thread of Life / Hilo de Vida when my grandmother passed away. As she left, she shared a glimmer, a gift — her life became clearly intertwined with that of my daughter, who was still to be born, with my own, and with the future that has yet to arrive. Her departure led me on an inner journey through the living tapestry of life. A place where, even in death, in loss or in darkness — there is a thread that is never broken.
At first, writing was just for me — a need to give name to what I had experienced. This is a personal book: it speaks of my daughter, family, my grandmother, grief, and existential questions.
Even if the names and stories shift, we all know loss, awe, love, uncertainty, a longing to heal. We’ve all felt, at some point, that life runs through us with an invisible thread — one that connects who we were, who we are, and what we have yet to understand.
This book doesn’t seek to give answers. It simply offers a space to remember that we are woven — by connection, memory, silence — and that this weave, even if it changes form, endures.
If you see yourself reflected in any of these pages, then this thread has already found another heart in which to keep beating.
Thank you for reading,
—Michell Halley
