PATCHWORK KISSES

“I’ve always been a noticer. People take one glance and think they know a thing. Pshaw! They don’t know squat.”

At eighty, Audrey Collins is sharp, witty, opinionated—and trapped inside a body devastated by a stroke. Fully aware but unable to communicate, she has plenty to say about the people who keep assuming her silence means she isn’t there.

Audrey has eighty years of living tucked away inside her—the loves that shaped her, the losses that nearly broke her, and moments of such ridiculous absurdity that she still can't believe they actually happened. And if they only mattered to her? That was enough.

A worn patch from her quilt, a smell, a photograph, an overheard remark—and suddenly Audrey is back inside the kisses, heartbreaks, and secrets of her life.

Audrey may struggle to breathe. She may struggle to stay alive. But the moments that mattered most to her? Those come as easily as ever, whether they bring laughter or tears.

Funny, heartbreaking, and full of surprises, this is a story about love, family, caregiving, service, loss—and the millions of separate moments that make your life yours.

A full life can only be determined by the one who lives it.

With only days left to live, come sit with her a while.

This is Audrey's story.

Look again. Maybe what you think you know isn't all there is.

Completed Manuscript