"Life and death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor eternity, only Being." -- Albert Einstein

As we reach the end of our reproductive cycle, mothering issues can come up with ferocity. Some of us choose not to have children, do not find the mate or situation that could support them, or encounter problems with fertility. For women who defer childbearing, menopause, especially early menopause, can be a time of loss for the child they will never bear. Others feel terrific relief to be out of their childbearing years... something previous generations without birth control especially appreciated about menopause.

 Birth and death, life and entropy occur simultaneously. This is the nature of our world-- one is being born -- one is dying. In the painting this duality is expressed without judgment.

The name for this painting comes from a letter my daughter Nicole wrote to my dear friend David Tamayo who was dying of AIDS. She expressed to him her belief that he was going on a journey to "the other side of birth"--that birth and death are similar adventures and that we can think of them as sojourns through time to be experienced fully.