by Dede Montgomery

"Mother and daughter reflect on womanhood in West Linn author's new book" -- West Linn Tidings

"From First Breath to Last: A Story about Love, Womanhood, and Aging is an honest and engaging portrayal of a topic challenging to us all. Montgomery shares intimate details in her stories that bring the reader into the room. Readers of all ages can relate to the realistic depictions included in this book, with stories that empower and inspire. This tells the tale of leadership and learning from the history of those closest to the author through the wisdom of their lived experiences. An illuminating read." ­— Dr. Latrissa Lee Neiworth, Ed.D., Organizational Leadership, MA Ed., IDI QA Professor of Leadership

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"Dede Montgomery honors the forested paths women wander along on their life journey starting in girlhood until they leave their bodies through the tender writings of a mother and daughter through a unique lens. Gifted with her mother’s, Patty Marilyn Daum Montgomery, own unpublished memoir, plus her doctoral thesis and other writings, Dede Montgomery entwines their separate journeys into a story filled with insight, reconciliation, whimsy, wisdom, and grief. I was left for a longing to have sat down and had a long chat with “Patty,” a keenly wise and intelligent woman, who was laying the groundwork for the current movement for understanding the value of post-menopausal women in our society in her writing and as a professor-mentor to women. Dede Montgomery’s own growth from childhood through young adulthood through to her caring for her mother at the end of her life reflects how, like the landscape of a forest, slowly changes over time, parental-child relationships too mature with age. Nature is a woven theme throughout From First Breath to Last and as you approach the end you sense Patty, like the nurse logs in a forest, is still nurturing her family, deeply loved." — Chaplain Anne Richardson, Spiritual Companion, Founder, Nurture Your Journey