Linda Cruse - Marmalade and Machine Guns

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

F or as long as I remember I have always felt that I was on a mission. From a very young age I was driven by an unquench able thirst to serve something greater than myself, but for a long time I didnt know what, where or how.

Marmalade and Machine Guns looks back on an incredible journey humbling, exhausting, stressful, challenging but rewarding beyond measure.

I drifted into nursing and loved it but it was not enough. At the age of 39 I leapt into the frontline to help those in dire need living in some of the poorest and most challenging areas of the world.

For over 12 years I have moved from project to project with just one suitcase. Its taken me all over the world to every continent, way off the beaten track. I have assisted in catastrophic natural disasters such as the Asian tsunami, the Pakistan earthquake, in conflict zones, with tribes deep in the Amazon rainforest, nomads in the deserts of Uzbekistan and in high mountain areas such as the Himalayas and Atlas Mountains, and refugee camps Burmese, Afghan and Tibetan.

Born and raised in the United Kingdom I realise that my journey has been somewhat unusual. Some people admire me, others think I am crazy.

With great regularity I have little or no access to clean running water, reliable electricity, dependable food supplies, a comfy bed, a hot shower or a safe shelter. All of these things I used to take for granted. I dont now.

The journey has not been short of adventures and misadventures. I have lost a few lives escaped from a rebel army, evaded rape, been wrongfully arrested, been held at gunpoint, survived severe altitude sickness and hypothermia and had my face slashed open, having to stitch myself up in the absence of medical help.

These experiences of life, near death and suffering have given me an insight into life and its meaning, real and practical, gained first hand through living life on the edge. I have learnt the meaning of unconditional love, strength, forgiveness, courage and compassion from unconventional teachers an 11-year-old tsunami survivor who lost not only her parents and siblings, but also her teacher, her home and most of her friends, a 16-year-old Burmese refugee blown up by a landmine, left blind with no legs, surviving in a no-mans -land camp, not welcome in his host country yet never able to return to his own my list of teachers is endless.

And along the way I have imbued the wisdom of indigenous visionaries Amazonian shamans, Tibetan lamas and Indian gurus. Much of my work carried out with the backdrop of parental anxiety my son is also regularly on the frontline with the Rifles in Afghanistan.

So why did I write this book? To remind us all to get passionate about living; to tune in to our own intuition, compassion and courage; to learn from the extraordinary ways people confront fear, face death and find joy and happiness in the most dire circumstances.

So there it is! See you on the frontline! Dont forget to pack your head torch and most importantly your sense of humour.

With love, onwards and ever upwards

Linda x

In the end, its not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away

shing xiong