Living with Hope

A Memoir by Stella Deslongchamp

Living with Hope follows Stella’s life from childhood through motherhood, raising her daughters, Alyssa and Emily, the unimaginable loss of Alyssa, and the long journey toward rebuilding a life with purpose and hope. Along the way, she reflects on the people who shaped her, the community that carried her family forward, and the search for answers that began after Alyssa’s death.

As Stella sought to better understand the connection between Alyssa’s concussion history and her mental health, that search became the foundation for her work with bipartisan legislators and community partners to create Alyssa’s Youth Concussion and Mental Health Protection Act (Alyssa’s Act), helping make Colorado the first state to require youth concussion education to include mental health awareness for coaches and families.

At its heart, Living with Hope is a story of family, resilience, purpose, and discovering that even after profound loss, hope can still light the way forward.

Alyssa as a baby, holding a baby photo of her mother, Stella. Two little girls, a generation apart, connected by love, memory, and a story neither could yet imagine.

Living with Hope is a completed memoir currently being considered for publication. Stella is exploring the right publishing path and welcomes inquiries from publishers and literary agents interested in reviewing the manuscript.