FEATURED

The Long Middle — The Official Definition

A name for the space no one talks about — until now.

For years I’ve been writing about a stage of life we rarely name but deeply feel — that strange, quiet stretch after the crisis ends

but before life makes sense again.

Read the full definition

Welcome

I'm Mary Monoky

Storyteller.
Survivor.
Speaker.

Why I Speak

I survived hospice.
Not as a caregiver. Not as a visitor.
As the one who was supposed to die.

But I didn’t. And when the world went quiet, something inside me got louder.

Over two decades of illness, reinvention, and unexpected endurance have taught me this:

We don’t need perfect stories.

We need real ones.

I write and perform personal essays that explore the silence beneath survival,

the humor inside hardship,

and the strange beauty of starting over

especially later in life.

I speak from the middle of the mess,

not from the end of the journey.

What You’ll Find Here

I spent too many years unseen — not because people weren’t looking,

but because I didn’t yet know how to speak my truth out loud.

Now, I tell stories that stay with people.
Sometimes they sting. Sometimes they shimmer.
But always, they’re mine.

If you’ve ever had to start over — in illness, in love,

in purpose — you might just find a part of yourself here.

I speak the truths that live beneath the surface --

the one's you won't find on Instagram.

Because quietest stories are often the ones that stay.

Get in Touch

We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts, stories, or questions, and let's connect through the power of words and shared experiences.

Not as bad as I once way, not as good as I hope to be.