patti brehler

patti brehler is young-at-heart enough to ride a bicycle from Michigan to Montana (and back) alone, crazy enough to write a book about it, and old enough that her upcoming adventure-travel memoir is a “coming of a certain age” story, a reflection of her life lived as art. Facing Sunset is her first book. She is one of 33 contributors to What She Wrote, An Anthology of Women's Voices, and has essays published in the Massage Therapy Journal and the International Association of Assitance Dog Partners.

 

Now retired as a freelance writer, photographer, and editor for a small town newspaper, patti has also been a record-setting ultra-marathon bicyclist, journeyman machinist, training coordinator, massage therapist, adventure coach, bicycle store owner, dog trainer, with a short stint as a railroad conductor.

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The middle child of seven, patti fulfilled her self-imposed destiny to serve as death doula for her parents. (Her father died before her bicycle trip, her mother as she wrote her story.) She steps into adventure with “calculated risks” and finds synchronicity when in line with her universe. This connects her with an amazing array of talented, inspirational, funny, and wildly unique people, and because she is open to possibilities, she is touched in ways she never expects. Her stories are an example of how life is, indeed, often stranger than fiction.

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patti lives with her husband, Andy Andersen, and their two career-changed Leader Dog black Labs, Gus and Aero, in their beloved "patch" in northeastern Michigan--the "sunrise side." During the Covid-lockdown of 2020, patti found a new adventure when she bought an Overo paint mare, aptly named Crazy Horse.