Ep. 14: Sonnet 18

Last time, Exa traveled from Danbury to Brooklyn to scatter Lidiya's ashes. Along the way, she listened to a recording of Lidiya's final days: Chris's confessions, Lidiya's compassion, and the sacred mushroom ceremony that set him on a path toward healing. In this final episode, Chris wrestles with the hardest part of storytelling: the ending. Fourteen months after Lidiya's death, he's healthier, stronger—and suddenly unsure of everything. A consequential journey awaits. Unexpected messages from the past challenge what he thought he knew. And somewhere high above the clouds, dreams, symbols, and memories begin to swirl. This is the moment when Chris must decide what comes next—on the page, and in his life. Copyright 2025 John H. Wasson https://hermagicmushroommemoir.com/episodes

Last time, Chris returned from a walk still wrestling with the weight of Lidiya's story—and his own doubts about finishing her book. Over dinner, an unexpected memory surfaced: a long-buried misunderstanding between Lidiya and Exa. What unfolded was a reckoning years in the making—an apology, a confession, and a new path forward. But just when it seemed every tension had eased, a call from his estranged wife sent Chris reeling, leading him to a bridge high above the frigid Housatonic River as it thundered over the spillway of Stevenson Dam. In this episode, we reach the final chapter of Lidiya's life—and the end of the memoir. Ashes are scattered. Voices echo in memory. And the threads that once seemed loose and fraying are gently tied—into something whole. Copyright 2026 John H. Wasson https://hermagicmushroommemoir.com/episodes

Last time, Lidiya journeyed through visions both luminous and unsettling, guided by Exa's steady presence. Amid hallucinatory forests, a ten-foot dewdrop, and the shifting edges of perception, she discovered clarity, a rekindled sense of wonder, and the quiet assurance that even in darkness, the mind—and the heart—can find their way home. In this episode, Chris begins to unravel. Haunted by regret, alcoholism, and loss, he reaches a point he's never dared go before. With Jefferson Airplane on the radio and the spillway roaring below him, a decision must be made: surrender to the dark—or find something still worth saving. Copyright 2025 John H. Wasson https://hermagicmushroommemoir.com/episodes

Last time, Lidiya recalled how music lifted her out of despair—and into a dangerous, intoxicating affair. What began with a night at the Kennedy Center ended in deception, heartbreak, and the realization that she still hadn't healed. In this episode, that healing finally begins. With Exa by her side, Lidiya returns to the mushroom—not as a researcher, but as a seeker. What unfolds is part ceremony, part memory, part dream—and what it reveals may be her greatest legacy yet. Copyright 2025 John H. Wasson https://hermagicmushroommemoir.com/episodes

Last time, Lidiya recalled the moment everything changed.  A missed babysitter. A bouquet of daffodils. A fateful trip to Bethesda. In a single afternoon, she lost the people she loved most—and the evidence she and Craig had risked everything to protect. In this episode, we follow her into the long winter that followed. What begins with silence, snow, and Mahler's Fifth Symphony becomes something else entirely: a rite of passage and a return to the world. Copyright 2025 John H. Wasson https://hermagicmushroommemoir.com/episodes

Last time, Lidiya and Craig took their investigation to the edge—digging into secret programs, decoding euphemisms, and quietly exposing some of the CIA's darkest experiments. From university labs to brothel safehouses, the truths they uncovered were as disturbing as they were undeniable. In this episode, Lidiya recalls the day everything changed. What begins with breakfast, a missed babysitter, and a bouquet of daffodils ends in unspeakable loss. But in that moment—when the world turned dark— a watercolor of Persephone's Quest reminds Lidiya of something else: the possibility of meaning, and the quiet pull of unfinished work. Copyright 2025 John H. Wasson https://hermagicmushroommemoir.com/episodes

Last time, Lidiya and Craig made a pact: no more secrets. Together, they agreed to infiltrate the very systems that once recruited her. What began as quiet complicity was now open resistance—dangerous, yes, but necessary. In this episode, the story unfolds in flashbacks and fieldwork—hidden files, forbidden experiments, and missions that test both their courage and their love. What they uncover about Operation Midnight Climax—and about themselves—will change everything. Copyright 2025 John H. Wasson https://hermagicmushroommemoir.com/episodes

Last time, Lidiya brought us into the most luminous stretch of her past: a summer of discovery, joy, and unexpected love with Craig Johnson. From BASIC code to Capitol Hill, from omelets to Woodstock, everything felt open and full of promise. In this episode, that promise is tested. As whispers of surveillance grow louder and Lidiya's past catches up to her, she finds herself at a crossroads. And this time, she's not alone. Copyright 2025 John H. Wasson https://hermagicmushroommemoir.com/episodes

Last time, Chris confronted the truth about Lidiya's legacy—and she confessed that she wasn't just a witness to history. She had been part of it. In this episode, we glimpse a different side of Lidiya. She's brilliant, curious—and unexpectedly in love. In the heat of 1969, as music drifts through the air and the world begins to change, Lidiya lets herself hope. Even in uncertain times, something beautiful begins to grow. Copyright 2025 John H. Wasson http://www.hermagicmushroommemoir.com/episodes

Last time, Chris and Lidiya peeled back the layers of unintended consequences: how Gordon's scientific curiosity became ammunition in a hidden war. This time, the story gets stranger—and darker. They called her "Mushroom Girl." Gifted, curious, and far too trusting. But in 1960s Cambridge, where science flirted with surveillance and innocence was a mask, even brilliance could be recruited—without knowing it.  Copyright 2025 John H. Wasson http://www.hermagicmushroommemoir.com/episodes