Two women lay sprawled in front of my truck. They are very dead. Queenie sits like a statue on the passenger side of my vintage Chevy pick-up, looking like the circus fat lady that she thinks she is - but she's not laughing.

I am on sabbatical in the Kaibab National Forest, feeding my own free spirit with life-changing time by myself, much needed and anticipated after my last exhausting coaching case.  

Who am I, you ask? I am Joan Freed, the rebel life coach and nutritional therapist. You've never heard of me? That's okay. I keep a low profile intentionally. My office is wherever my 19' Wilderness RV is parked - which is never in an RV park if I can help it.

I have my own agenda of proving that my seven-day, seven-step fast-track grief recovery program is valid, valuable, and necessary for the good of all the renegades out there, and for those who have to live with us.

I believe and promote that we are each an individual with individual needs for recovery. Let us heal in the way that best feeds our spirit and brings fulfillment to our lives. The steps are the same. The way we take the steps is unique to each of us.

I turn my case files into stories so that you, my treasured listener - I hope soon to be trusted partner in the Good Grief series - can benefit from the noesis of how to jump-start your own grief recovery program, root for those who are currently living it, and know that there is such a thing as good grief as well as "feel good" happy endings.

I know none of these women, but the two dead ones seem to have known me because they have magically materialized near each of my camps for a couple of seasons now. I met Queenie last evening and was simply lending a hand - or, in this case my truck and nutritional expertise - to a woman in temporary need. Our less-than-24-hour kinship was an uncomplicated "women helping women" moment, I thought.

While this could be a wearisome story of murder and mayhem, it isn't. It's the story of how one woman's life-changing personal transformation had a ripple effect in solving a cold case and enriching my own personal growth.