Alchemical Inheritance
Embracing What Is, Manifesting What Becomes
by
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I can almost see the phone ringing and ringing with no one there to hear. It was 1955, long before touch tones and answering machines. I imagine her stepfather or her sister would have been trying to reach her to give her the tragic news. The phone was most likely black, with the circle on the face for dialing. My father tells me the house was furnished with the tasteful gifts my mother had received from her friends for her first wedding in Texas before she divorced and then met my father. I suppose my mother, Helen, got the call and then phoned my father to tell him. But it may have been the other way around. My mother was a bit fragile even then; her stepfather or sister might well have thought it better for her to hear the news in person from her husband. My father, Roy, would most likely have been at work, coming up with better ways to interpret data in order to locate oil underneath the Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana. My Aunt Sadie told me many years later that my father had invented something of great interest in oil exploration and that, in return, he was given a promotion. My father said she was being overly generous in her memory of things and that he never actually invented anything. He was a smart man and, I assume, diligent and good at his job. In 1957 or so, he was given the promotion that moved our family to Tehran, Iran - far from his Oklahoma roots and a grand adventure for this Tulsa, son-of-a-widow turned Westinghouse scholar and Geophysicist. Roy was far too modest to elaborate on any of that.
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About the Book
Born into the aftermath of a family tragedy, author Tess Keehn responded as a young adult by dedicating herself to finding emotional balance and wellness.
Alchemical Inheritance presents the honest story of Keehn’s family history and of her own life experiences, describing how her journey through darkness eventually empowered her to manifest a life of peace, joy, and fulfillment. She tells the tale of her grandmother’s mysterious murder, her mother’s descent into mental illness, the dissolution of her family’s substantial wealth, and the near collapse of her own life under the weight of her family’s secrets and financial ruin.
Keehn’s own inheritance moved through the extremes of substance abuse and despair until a spiritual awakening in her twenties called her to tap the power of a myriad of resources and forge her own path to healing and redemption. Through her story, she hopes others may find a revised road map for their lives that moves them forward with clarity, excitement, and inspiration.
“In this masterfully written memoir … Keehn combines spirituality, mental-health practices, and an ever-growing love of herself that leads her readers on a path to a deep and sustaining healing.” –Kathari Findlen, author, Meeting in the Space Between
“Alchemical Inheritance is a rare book written with both the openness of a client and the discerning eye of a skilled professional psychotherapist.” –Lama Yeshe Jinpa, from the Foreword
In this personal narrative, one woman shares her journey of overcoming obstacles of victimization, substance abuse, and abandonment to emerge healed, whole, and peaceful.
www.YourWiseMind.com www.AlchemicalInheritance.com
About the Author
Tess Keehn, M.S., served as a licensed mental-health caregiver after working to heal her own wounds through psychotherapy and the pursuit of spiritual awakening. She provides Self-Empowerment Life Coaching to select clients, often by telephone. She lives with her husband in Orangevale, California. Visit www.YourWiseMind.com or www.AlchemicalInheritance.com.