Leila Levinson

I am a Baby Boomer, born in 1954, the youngest of three children. I grew up in the industrial midsection of New Jersey, and as I longed to climb trees and ride a bicycle (neither of which was possible in Perth Amboy), my first goal in life was to leave New Jersey as soon as possible. A boyfriend I met in graduate school presented the option of Austin, Texas where he was moving to attend law school. The relationship quickly collapsed, but I fell in love with Austin which has now been my home for thirty-three years. As Gated Grief is my first book, I am obviously a late bloomer. Though I always knew I loved writing and wanted to write a book, it took me years to figure out my subject. Law school detoured me, then parenting and working through deep wounds that parenting brought to the surface demanded the next fifteen years. I model the importance of perseverance. The wounds of war travel far and deep. My hope for Gated Grief is that it bring understanding and reconciliation between parents and children as it has for my father and me. And yes, reconciliation can happen even after our parent has passed away.