Writing Marinah and the Apocalypse was a labor of love. Marinah is the daughter of a good friend and she died much too young. Her story and the way it impacted her family struck a cord in me and I couldn’t let it go. I asked Dinah, Marinah’s mother, “Can I write a book about Marinah where most of the world dies and she lives on?” Dinah said yes, and the Marinah books were born. I wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming connection this story would create in my soul. Dinah opened her heart with pictures of Marinah along with the story of her life. We met in Tennessee and Dinah shared Marinah’s Instagram account with me. She also sent me one of Marinah’s shirts which hangs in my closet. I wear it on the day I type, The End, for each book. I had to squeeze into it this time but I wore it. Writing the last book in the series was bittersweet and I’ll admit I cried. I’m blessed to have Dinah as a friend and I can’t express her generosity and love. Below is Marinah’s story told by her mother. Her name was Marinah. Tribute Site for Marinah
I want to thank Holly for letting Marinah live through this series. I want to thank her for loving Marinah and for caring. It means so much to me and I could never thank her enough or express how much it means to me. When Holly asked me to write something about Marinah from my heart, it took several days to decide what I wanted to write.
I wanted everyone to know what kind of person she was. I wanted everyone to know that she had so much to offer the world and that she made the world a brighter place when she was in it. I wanted them to know that she was funny, smart, feisty and sassy. She was the most stubborn person I’ve ever known. She knew how to push everyone’s buttons and was quite good at it. She was passionate about the things and people she loved. She was never judgmental and would stand up for the underdog. She had a way with words and would have made a great writer. She dreamed of being an actress and would have done well at that too. She loved music, especially Taylor Swift. She knew every episode of Supernatural inside and out. She did the things other girls did growing up. Girl Scouts, dance, soccer, swim team, basketball, cheer, she tried her hand at guitar and played the clarinet in band and sang in chorus. She was tall with naturally curly hair. She was gorgeous, being out with her was like being with a celebrity because people always stopped and asked if she modeled, played basketball, etc. They were always coming up to us and telling her how beautiful she was. These things never went to her head, though they did amuse her. There are a million things I can say about her and the 19 years two months and 24 days that I had with her. I can tell you that it wasn’t enough time. She was so full of personality and brought an energy to the room whenever she entered. Her life mattered and her death mattered.
Now on to the "not so good" stuff, Marinah also suffered from mental illness. As many intelligent, creative and empathetic people do. She tried to get the right combination of therapy and medications right so that it could be controlled. To give you an idea of how she thought about things that can be harmful; Marinah was a vegetarian the last 3 years of her life. When she was about 6 she came home from school one day crying and telling her dad that she didn’t want him to die and if he kept smoking he would die. (He stopped smoking) Unfortunately, in spite of all of these things; she made the bad decision of trying drugs. For someone with an addictive personality, all it takes is one time. I once heard someone say that an addict doesn’t do drugs to feel good, they take them to not feel so bad. I think that was the case with Marinah. More than once during the last year of her life she told others that she didn’t want to feel. She left our home on Christmas after celebrating with her sister, brother, parents and other family members. The next morning, she didn’t wake up. She had taken what she thought was Percocet. It was fentanyl. Marinah didn’t deserve to die. There are thousands of people like Marinah that die every day from drugs. Many of them are dying from fentanyl. These people are often young, smart, sweet people that are beautiful inside and out. It can happen to anyone, it can happen in any family. I want everyone to enjoy getting to know Marinah. As I read this book I could see Marinah saying and doing the things that she said in the book. I could picture everything taking place with her. As if enjoying the story and characters wasn’t enough, I got to imagine a world where Marinah got to have all of these experiences she didn’t have in life. In a small way, it’s almost like having her alive again. I don’t want the reality of her life cut short to take away from enjoying the characters and books. I do want her life to matter. I want to raise awareness that thousands are dying every day from overdoses and it’s an epidemic. It’s far worse than what the media portrays. There’s a stigma attached and a lot of judgment. The same can be said for mental illness. We need to end the stigma and advocate for awareness. If Marinah’s story can keep another family from going through what she went through and what my family will go through for the rest of our lives I’m happy to share it.
Her name was Marinah. 10/1/96-12/26/15
Thank you Holly.
From Dinah (Callie's Story)
Marinah got Callie (and her littermate Lexie) as kittens when she was about 6 years old. Callie was originally hanging out with Marinah’s older sister Nikayla but Marinah absconded her for herself.
I always joked that Callie had Stockholm Syndrome because she always put up with Marinah doting on her and always picking her up and dragging her around, but Callie still adored her. Even as a young adult if Marinah saw Callie giving someone else attention she would go and pick Callie up and take her off to her room.
Marinah said Callie was her soulmate and we worried about
what Marinah would do when Callie died, especially after Lexie’s death. We never considered needing to worry about what Callie
would do if Marinah were to pass on first. Never. When Marinah
passed away Callie would sit outside her bedroom door and meow and would sound
so distressed. There was nothing anyone else could do for her, she adored
Marinah and that’s who she wanted.
Callie died less than two months after Marinah. She
couldn’t handle Marinah’s death. Those two really were inseparable.
I always figured that Marinah reached down and grabbed her just like she did in
life and Callie was ready and waiting for her.
