Leah Oettinger

From age 8 to 26, I was active in community theatre and cast in major supporting roles in musical theatre. Marriage and career, and then caregiving for my husband during a prolonged terminal illness, put my creative endeavors on the back burner. My husband died two years ago, and I am finding out who I am without him. The grief journey has been challenging but revelatory as well. Although I'm on the job market to return to my previous career as a paralegal, I would love a chance to embrace my creative talents. I am a classically trained opera singer and still study voice. I also sing other genres of music, including Broadway, gospel, rock, jazz, and Blues. I write creative nonfiction, Fiction, Southern Grit-Lit, and Poetry. I am currently writing a memoir of my and my husband’s experience with prolonged terminal illness, the misconceptions of hospice, caregiving, and the grit and humor of loving someone who fights valiantly to suck the marrow out of life, as well as the realities of grief. I hope to have a chance to audition for you.