Heaven and Earth

Alicia Demetropolis

About the artist: 

Alicia Jean Demetropolis is an orthopedic exercise specialist and healthcare assistant and is certified in providing spiritual care to people at the end of life. She is a published author of fiction and nonfiction and writes and publishes a quarterly newsletter for the Olympic Peninsula. Called Death Over Coffee, it is meant to encourage “an open, fearless and healthy discussion on the topic of death and dying.” This is her first published photograph. “It is dedicated to Hank, a longtime client whom I just lost a few nights ago. Although his death was not unexpected, it was a traumatic loss for me and his family.”

About the artwork:

“Heaven and Earth was taken early in the morning after an overnight shift with a client who says the rosary every night before bed. On those night shifts I fall peacefully asleep, hearing her words echoing from the baby monitor in my room. Early in the morning of one shift, I awoke to a heavy fog and looked out from her deck to this scene. It seemed to capture where we all are at every moment–with one foot in this world and the other in the next.”

Visual Editor:

Justin Sanders