Lost Promises
Revisiting the Circumstances of My Sister's Death in a Religious Cult
by Myra Shuster

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Promises My Sister and I Made follows two deeply connected young sisters from Montreal who grew up in a secular home, but yearned for a sense of purpose, meaning and fulfilment beyond the material comforts their suburban life offered. Imbued with their parents’ disillusioned idealism as members of leftist movements in 1950s Montreal, the sisters are drawn to spiritual paths that promise personal and collective transformation. With imaginations sparked by the freespirited ethos of the Summer of Love, and lyrics instilled in them from their parents’ nostalgic folk songs, New Age movements beckon. Sharon visits the Creative Community Project, a commune in San Francisco in the late 1970s, and the author follows. They both fall prey to the manipulative brainwashing techniques of the Unification Church, known as the Moonies. The author returns to Montreal soon after, and as she grapples with her own process of disentanglement from the cult, she prepares to assist her sister to do the same during Sharon’s planned visit home. Just weeks before her anticipated visit, tragedy strikes. Sharon dies in mysterious circumstances while fundraising for the Moonies. The author recounts her legal investigation into her sister’s death and takes us on a return journey to San Francisco in search of closure, to revisit the place she and Sharon last saw each other. She offers insights to those who grapple with the impact of cults. Exploring two promises the sisters made—Sharon’s vow– to ‘never leave Myra forever,’ and the author’s pledge, made soon after Sharon died, to live for both of them—the author blends letters, dreams, journals, and legal documents that shed light on Sharon’s short life and honour their relationship, revealing an enduring bond not broken by death. Engaging travel writing and poignant reflection are two of the author’s gifts to her readers, who witness her working with the grief of sibling loss and finding peace through writing.

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Myra Shuster (she/her), a lawyer, mediator, and freelance journalist and writer, has been awarded two creative non-fiction mentorships by the Quebec Writers Federation and was selected for the “Writing with Style” workshop at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Her articles, stories, and poetry have been published in diverse journals, including The Montrealer, the Montreal Gazette, Quebec Heritage News, and the Canadian Jewish News. She lives in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with her husband and works for Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board, where she won the Governor’s Award for the Special Project on Haiti, the Chairperson’s Award for Innovation, and the Excellence in Professionalism Award.

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Myra Shuster