The Brave In-Between: Notes from the Last Room

This honest and emotional memoir presents much needed lessons and advice for navigating uncertainty in the worst of times.

Amy Low resides in a room that is her last--her medical team is clear-eyed with her: there is no cure for Stage IV metastatic colon cancer, and the odds of long-term survival are scant. Miraculously, she’s lived four years with her diagnosis, and that life between life has changed her.

Through the swirl of prolonged trauma and unbearable grief, a vantage point emerged--a window that showed her the way to relish life and be kinder to herself and others while living through the inevitable loss and heartbreak that crosses everyone’s paths. Instead of viewing joy and sorrow as opposites, she saw how both exist in harmony, full of mystery and surprise. Instead of seeing days as succeeding or failing, and physical selves as healthy or unwell, she’s learned to carry both achievements and afflictions in stride. And instead of bitterness and betrayal, forgiveness--toward her body, toward others, toward herself--became her wisest light.

Mapping her experiences to the words that St. Paul wrote in his own last room, The Brave In-Between is a sacred invitation to explore that space between triumph and tragedy. We all have a heart to marvel at miracles, a lightness to spot the absurdity, and an imagination to pause and extend empathy for others--even when tragedy strikes. Sometimes we just need a guide.

Amy Low has been a storyteller all her life. She grew up in and continues to live life through parables and metaphors. She sees her life as an invitation to discovering the new every day and even records some of these discoveries in her Substack, Postcards from the Mountain, whose readers include a great deal of journalists.

As the managing director for communications at the Emerson Collective, she directs their efforts to raise awareness for a range of key issues, most notably education reform, immigration, and social justice. Amy manages all of Emerson’s communications platforms, and also advises various partners to help bring more attention to ideas and programs that are making a meaningful difference in the world.

Before joining Emerson Collective, Amy was chief advocacy and engagement officer at Landesa, a global non-governmental organization committed to curbing rural poverty through the power of secure land rights. She also spent nearly a decade with the political and communications consulting firm, GMMB, where she advised the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to build support for education reform, early learning, and family homelessness.

Most important, Amy is mom to Connor (18) and Lucy (16). Her proudest achievement is raising a son and daughter who one day will be spectacular and forever curious dinner party guests.