Millburn Resident of 46 Years Pens Memoir About Sister's Battle With Cancer

In a new memoir, former Millburn resident and Author Elissa Merkl lovingly shares the two year journey she took when her sister Marianne Merkl experienced a second episode of Hodgkins Disease complicated by primary liver cancer in a new book released by Dog Ear Publishing, “Traveling Beyond the Topic of Cancer: The Sisters’ Journey.”

The sisters were residents of Millburn, NJ for 46 years before their move to Gillette, NJ in 2004. In Millburn, they were active in the Chamber of Commerce and Art Fair and other community groups.

When Marianne Merkl successfully battled Hodgkins Disease, Stage 4, for a year in 1980, friends and family rejoiced. Forward to 2005, when she faced a recurrence of Hodgkins with the addition of primary liver cancer. This new memoir relays the experience the sisters shared as they tried to live life to the fullest in between doctors’ appointments and treatments.

The book shows the bond the sisters share, despite differences in their personalities. More than a “how to” book with advice about battling cancer, the memoir chronicles the pair’s work at living in spite of cancer’s efforts to dictate otherwise.

The two sisters travel, including an Alaskan cruise, and support each other, right up to the longest day when Marianne took her final breath. Told through Marianne’s e-mails, e-mails and musings from Elissa, reports from doctors and e-mails from friends, the memoir shows their attempts to live with humor and take each challenge as it comes.

Elissa Merkl is a professional artist who has exhibited her work throughout the United States and internationally. She edits and publishes “Cultural Events of New Jersey” and gives demonstrations about her work, judges art shows and has served on the boards of art organizations.

Marianne Merkl (1947-2007) was 58 years when she was diagnosed. Marianne was one of the first support people for ChemoCare, now Cancer Hope Network. The activist visited patients undergoing chemo and did public service announcements, radio shows and gave talks, one included in the book. She was in the travel business for thirty years, owning a travel agency in Springfield for ten of those years. Marianne also volunteered at Cancer Care of NJ and worked at the multiple sclerosis group in North New Jersey.

To learn more, please visit http://www.elissamerkl.com.

Information and photo courtesy of Elissa Merkl