Moonlight in the Desert of Left Behind: A Journey of Love, Terminal Illness, and Hope

Newly married, writer Jan Baumgartner and her husband, John, pack up their home and busy lives in San Francisco trading the city verve for a quieter one along the rural coast of Maine. Looking forward to a slower pace, a life intertwined with nature, and greater opportunities to satiate their wanderlust for world travel, the couple buys a rambling Victorian house on the shores of Eggemoggin Reach, excited to begin this new chapter of their lives. But just a few years later, they receive the unexpected and devastating news that her husband is terminally ill with ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease. In their 30s and 40s, in a place not quite yet home, without family or closest friends nearby, and facing a crippling disease that will leave him paralyzed from the neck down, the author chronicles the heartbreak and depth of their love as she struggles with the emotional and physical challenges as a full-time caregiver for her dying husband. Throughout the journey, she finds an unexpected source of inspiration in her travels to Africa, with and without John, a healing connection with the bounty of nature surrounding their coastal home, and her determination to one day return to her beloved Africa. From the rugged isolation of the Maine coast to the wilds of the African bush, Moonlight in the Desert of Left Behind is a poignant and often heartrendingly candid story of devotion, courage, and ultimately, hope.

Jan Baumgartner was born near San Francisco, California, and for years lived on the coast of Maine. She is a writer and creative content book editor. She has worked as a grant writer for the nonprofit sector in the fields of academia, AIDS, and wildlife conservation for NGOs in the United States and Africa; a comedy writer for live performance at Herbst Theater in San Francisco; and a travel writer for The New York Times. Her work has been published online and in print, both nationally and abroad, ranging in such diverse topics as wildlife and nature, travel, humor/satire, Africa, and essays about her experience as a full-time caregiver for her terminally ill husband. Her travel articles on Mexico have been widely published; two are included in anthologies. Since her husband’s death, and following her passion, she has made solo trips to France, Italy, Mexico, the Bahamas, Turkey, Kenya, and South Africa. She makes her home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.