Letters from the Last Pope

Phoebe Sisk is the youngest of twelve children, born in Texas to well-educated artists in the late 1960’s. Her mother was diagnosed with manic-depression and committed suicide when she was five, leaving Sisk to be raised by her father, a graphic artist at the Fort Worth Zoo. She was painfully shy as a child, smart but anxious, diagnosed with ulcers at a young age, and not “at one with the world.” Her parents came from families of privilege (her mother’s uncle was governor of Texas) but after her mother’s suicide, the family fell deep and far, living without heat, AC, a stove or a refrigerator in a house that seemed to be crumbling apart. Throughout all, Sisk held onto her grades like a lifeboat, and left home at age 17 to attend college and join the military.
At 21 years old, she was a young, newly-graduated, newly-commissioned female second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps—an unlikely statistic in all regards. Sisk attributes defying the odds of her upbringing to the powers of belief and imagination. While Sisk considers mothering her most important achievement, her book is not about mothering per se, but is intended to tell her unique story of struggles and ensuing strengths gained, a reminder to others of their God-given ability to transform difficult life circumstances. Today, Sisk owns a real estate business with her husband Kevin and is working on a doctoral degree in pastoral counseling. With experience in communication and education, she has served as a coach, minister, and mentor. Sisk has been published in Chicken Soup and is the author of a children’s book. She and Kevin are the devoted and proud parents of Elijah, an Austin College junior, and Sarah Katherine, a freshman at Hillsdale College.