Pamela Hendricks Frautschi

Claudia: Misguided Spirit Pamela Hendricks Frautschi

Every family has one, the person whose very existence often perplexes and challenges. In this family, Claudia serves that role. A self-proclaimed spirit on the path to enlightenment and joy, her eager dismissal of her more mundane human element has caused no small amount of tension for spectators on the sidelines. On the surface, her journey to Nirvana should be charming, but in reality, it's been a profoundly disruptive roadblock to family harmony and her relationship with her siblings. Frustrated by her own family's inability to embrace her needs, Claudia lashes out again and again. Claudia considers realism an evasion and reality a lie that serves no purpose other than to disrupt the pursuits of her spiritual dreams. This is not the easiest mind-set to grow up with, but it's what the narrator and her family experience. The narrator's own quest for understanding, purpose, and compassion for her inscrutable older sister inspire her own internal explorations. In sharing these tales, she finds strength and comfort, humor and empathy, and, most importantly, solutions and closure. An emotional account of the impact a decision can have on a family, Claudia is the story of an older sister's ironically self-centered quest for Nirvana at all costs.