The Bird and Bee
A Memoir
by
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PROLOGUE I watch as the room clears of people. The stream of words has finally stopped, but they hang in the quiet air now like swords, threatening to pierce me on the spot, and amplifying the course of events that awaits me. No more maybes, no more chances, no more of my go-to “it’s too early to tell”. It is no longer too early. In fact, it is really rather too late. Too late for anymore. I’ve reached the end of this race. The grim faces of those leaving the room bleed my fate to the world. The secret is out. But here she is beside me as always. As she promised. I look into her eyes, filled with sadness and tears, and strength and resolve, and knowledge, and love. Before she gets a chance to wheel me out of this small room, I ask her to take a moment and listen. I pause, to gather up the words I want to say. My ability to speak, my precious voice which I have prized for the whole of my life, is failing me now too. I know what I want to say, but my ability to say it is diminishing. What cruelty is this? So I ask her, with halting, frustrating slowness, to stop here with me a moment. She squats down beside my wheelchair and I take a breath….
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About the Book
“Come over and change my strings?” It sounds like a cliché - Rose Sexton knows it too when she texts Bill Walsh, offering to pay for the favour. He gets the job done, then invites her to join him for a gig. She says yes. What starts as two musicians figuring out a set list becomes something neither of them can name. Then comes the diagnosis, and everything changes, except the depth of their connection. The Bird and Bee is Rose’s account of walking with Bill through his final journey, and Bill’s own words alongside hers - their diaries, texts and emails woven straight into the telling. It’s a story about music, mountains, dying well, and a connection that lasts beyond death.
About the Author
Rose Sexton is a nurse, end of life doula, performer, mover of mountains - and now, author - based in Victoria, Australia. Throughout a nursing career spanning more than four decades, she has been drawn to those facing life’s biggest transitions, supporting people in this sacred space. The Bird and Bee is her dual-voice memoir of walking with Bill Walsh, guitarist, philosopher and yogi, along his final journey.