Deep Waters: A Memoir of Loss, Alaska Adventure, and Love Rekindled

Beth's life in Alaska as wife, mother, and marine biologist is derailed when her fit, adventure-seeking husband is slammed by a brainstem stroke. Medevacked to Seattle, Jim fights to walk again--motivated by discoveries in neuroplasticity--while Beth and their young son champion his rehabilitation. Back home in Juneau after five hospital-bound weeks, Beth resumes teaching and research at the university as she becomes Jim's primary caregiver. Before Beth thinks he's ready, Jim initiates wilderness explorations on their boat. Sailing Alaska's Inside Passage with their young son deepens the couple's bonds, but chafes at Beth's Midwestern instincts to keep her husband safe at home and rebuild security by working more.

After she rescues Jim during two boating incidents, Beth's fear of losing Jim at sea is amplified. When she learns his survivor's goal is an ambitious multi-year sailing expedition with the family, she questions her ability to live up to his expectations. Should she risk her job as a professor to pursue a less secure, but more empowering and connected future?

Laced with information on recovery from stroke and tender moments between Beth, her husband, and son, Deep Water is a gripping, intimate story of relationship resilience, set against the backdrop of Alaska's dramatic marine wilderness.