In those times of unmanageable change when life comes to a forced stop, moments of grace await us. This book bears witness to how a high-intensity professional, now 10-year cancer survivor, found her bearings in the wilderness and learned to live more fully.
In writing Stones at the Crossing, Amy Webb accomplishes the remarkable. She offers a spirit of companionship to her readers. She shows rather than tells; her authenticity and transparency inspire. We learn of her uncertainties and wrong turns, and what she discovers she shares as lasting blessing. Reading between the lines, we make deeper contact with our own resilience in the midst of change. We consider our own crossing stones, and our capacity for truth-telling and wholeness is bolstered, affirmed, and lifted.
John Fox, President, The Institute for Poetic Medicine
Such a conversational and courageous story of healing, of holding life while learning to let go, of survival as opportunity. I love this book!
Sally Z. Hare, PhD, President, still learning, inc.
Amy Webb well knows that transitions offer opportunities to grow and develop, and require true grit to navigate. When she came face-to-face with her own life-changing experience, she mustered her inner strength and applied practical strategies once shared with clients to help her cope, learn, and heal. Stones at the Crossing is a gift to the soul.
Lois Zachary, EdD, Director, Center for Mentoring Excellence
Stones at the Crossing is an inspiration in connecting body, mind, and spirit, and finding the light of hope. In 20 years of working with cancer patients, I have yet to come across any work that so beautifully, honestly, and gracefully portrays the journey.
Kelly Weeks Hauschild, CancerWellness Specialist
“I walked through Brookgreen Gardens with my camera today and watched a caterpillar inch to the end of a stalk. I leaned way down to get close to him, and saw him lean way out on that stalk, attempting to find his next foothold. Right, left, up, down, he reached and paused again and again, with nothing close to grab. Finally, the front of him dropped, suspending himself in air, while his back legs kept walking. Eventually, he dropped lightly and fully onto another stalk. He landed in one piece, probably not where or how he expected, but he kept on walking.
That’s what I will do. I am committed to do the walking, while leaning in and letting go.”
“Just after my diagnosis, the head of an ecumenical quilt ministry at my church surprised me with a visit. She held in her arms a small quilt the women had made, each square knotted in the middle, and with each knot, a collective prayer for healing. The makers signed the back; some wrote personal messages.
I felt honored, but declined the gift, “Thank you for thinking I would need this, but I am ok; save this for someone who really needs it.” I honestly believed what I said. I expected to have my lump removed, and to soon recover and return to normal life. Somehow seeing myself as qualifying for a quilt signaled a seriousness I was not ready for.
I was persuaded to at least hold onto it through my surgery. I took the quilt from her, mainly to not disappoint or seem ungrateful for the effort. So for a few weeks my cats nestled with me on it. I meditated with it covering my lap. I slept under it.
After surgery, learning that the cancer spread to lymph nodes, I knew I was in for a larger ordeal. Grateful for that quilt, I wrapped it around me instead of my denial.”
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“Last night I finished reading Stones at the Crossing. I was mesmerized, bowled over, touched, moved. Your book not only transported me into that rich fertile mind of yours, but offered deeper, deeper, the deepest insight of who you are as a person. You trusted yourself enough to invite me as a reader in, and actually walk side by side. Thank you for allowing me to see your soul.”
“I’m reading it slowly, savoring. It gives me peace.”
“Masterfully graphic, very memorable. A self-portrait in words to inspire others to live life to the fullest.”
“A treasure trove of insight and wisdom. A lovely gift for my spirit.”
“The insights are moving; the writing, beautiful.”
“You found another way to live in the midst of cancer, rather than stuck in bitterness or fear. You set an example of how to recognize and accept grace. In your transformation, you now offer us wisdom.”
“I am reading myself in your book. It has opened up a dialogue in me.”
“I can relate as a fellow cancer survivor. You have named, affirmed, and honored our experience. You gave words to what I could not voice.”
“Stones at the Crossing is beautiful, phenomenal. It passes on strength and confidence and faith. It models a whole honest path to transforming hardship.”
In her career as an Organizational Psychologist, Amy D. Webb, PhD, coached and trained thousands of leaders to deepen their capacity to understand and transform their life stories.
Her extensive client list includes Fortune 100 and 500 companies, in industries such as telecommunications, consumer products, and financial services; public sector organizations, including the National Institutes of Health; the Federal Public Service across Canada; and major international companies abroad.
Building awareness and skill, clients learned to lead their work systems more effectively and build healthy connections with others. From decades of this intensive individual, group and team development work, she adapted lessons to guide her through the experience of breast cancer.
Now a 10-year survivor, she continues to discover the extraordinary in the ordinary, and to write about becoming more awake along the way. Her poems and essays have been published in Sacred Journey, The Journal of Fellowship and Prayer; The Hektoen International Journal of Medical Humanities; Carolina Grace: Gold for the Soul; and Natural Awakenings.
She and her husband reside in Pawleys Island, South Carolina. Stones at the Crossing is her first book.
