"Summer Island" by Kristin Hannah
This was my least favorite of hers so far yet it was still a good book, I just liked her others better. This was also one of her first books that she wrote. The story follows two sisters and their mother who abandoned them. Their mother, Nora, has since become famous in radio for her talk show on giving advice in relationships. The oldest daughter is living the perfect high society life, forgetting her past and doing her best to move on. The youngest daugher has never forgiven her mother and continues to run and struggle through her life. An accident and a revealing of their past will bring all three of them together to reveal all that they lost and all that they didn't really know. Spending a week together in their summer home the past comes back at them full force including the neighbor brothers who happen to be back in town at the same time. "Motherhood is full of secret worries." Ain't that the truth! "I'm your father; she's your mother-whatever she's done or hasn't done, or said or hasn't said-she's a part of you and you're a part of her. Don't you see that you can't be whole without her?" I work with foster kids and it doesn't matter how much a child has been hurt by their parent they still love them. Our parents make up a part of who we are, not all of us, but a part. "There's no substitute for talking to the people you love. Thinking about them, dreaming about them, wishing things were different...all of these are the beginning. But someone has to make the first move." Be brave, make the first move, you never know where it could lead.
Showing posts with label mother-daughter relationship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mother-daughter relationship. Show all posts
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Friday, January 27, 2017
Winter Garden
"Winter Garden" by Kristin Hannah
This book was very good. It had many twists that kept me reading. I would get mad at the characters and fall in love with them too. It was a page turner and another one of hers I would recommend. The author writes about two very different sisters who have always struggled to win affection from their cold, non emotional mother. When their loving father becomes ill both sisters struggle with what will become of them not that the person that held them together is dying. A story their mother is urged to tell by her dying husband will reveal shocking secrets that will undo everything the daughters thought they knew about their family. The story involves their mothers Russian history that they know nothing about. "Everyone broke-and held themselves together-in their own way." We all grieve differently. We all need the space to grieve our own way. "He is my home. How will I live without him?" "Physical pain was so much easier to handle than heartache." Emotional pain is often so much harder, harder to push through, harder to overcome. "Every choice changed the road you were on and it was too easy to end up going in the wrong direction. Sometimes, settling down was just plain settling." Every choice matters, every choice leads us either to where we want to be or down a different road. "There are some promises that are pointless to ask for and useless to receive." "None of the mothers look at each other; it hurts too much to see your own pain reflected in another woman's eyes." I think that we often don't look at someone's eyes because we are afraid of their pain and yet this disconnects us as humans. The greatest gift we can give someone is to sit with them in their pain. "To lose love is a terrible thing. But to turn away from it is unbearable." "You carried your pain with you in life. There was no outrunning it." There is only facing it with the most courage you can muster. "They would always be a family, but if she'd learned anything in the past few weeks it was that a family wasn't a static thing. There were always changes going on. Like with continents, sometimes the changes were invisible and underground, and sometimes they were explosive and deadly. The trick was to keep your balance. You couldn't control the direction of your family any more than you could stop the continental shelf from breaking apart. All you could do was hold on for the ride." Hold on to those you love and hold on for the ride. "How could any women know her own story until she knew her mother's? We belong to each other and our stories need to be told because they bind us to one another. "Joy and sadness were part of the package; the trick, perhaps, was to let yourself feel all of it, but to hold on to the joy just a little more tightly because you never knew when a strong heart could just give out." Joy and sadness are a part of all of us, don't deny any of it, just hold the joy a little closer to your heart.
This book was very good. It had many twists that kept me reading. I would get mad at the characters and fall in love with them too. It was a page turner and another one of hers I would recommend. The author writes about two very different sisters who have always struggled to win affection from their cold, non emotional mother. When their loving father becomes ill both sisters struggle with what will become of them not that the person that held them together is dying. A story their mother is urged to tell by her dying husband will reveal shocking secrets that will undo everything the daughters thought they knew about their family. The story involves their mothers Russian history that they know nothing about. "Everyone broke-and held themselves together-in their own way." We all grieve differently. We all need the space to grieve our own way. "He is my home. How will I live without him?" "Physical pain was so much easier to handle than heartache." Emotional pain is often so much harder, harder to push through, harder to overcome. "Every choice changed the road you were on and it was too easy to end up going in the wrong direction. Sometimes, settling down was just plain settling." Every choice matters, every choice leads us either to where we want to be or down a different road. "There are some promises that are pointless to ask for and useless to receive." "None of the mothers look at each other; it hurts too much to see your own pain reflected in another woman's eyes." I think that we often don't look at someone's eyes because we are afraid of their pain and yet this disconnects us as humans. The greatest gift we can give someone is to sit with them in their pain. "To lose love is a terrible thing. But to turn away from it is unbearable." "You carried your pain with you in life. There was no outrunning it." There is only facing it with the most courage you can muster. "They would always be a family, but if she'd learned anything in the past few weeks it was that a family wasn't a static thing. There were always changes going on. Like with continents, sometimes the changes were invisible and underground, and sometimes they were explosive and deadly. The trick was to keep your balance. You couldn't control the direction of your family any more than you could stop the continental shelf from breaking apart. All you could do was hold on for the ride." Hold on to those you love and hold on for the ride. "How could any women know her own story until she knew her mother's? We belong to each other and our stories need to be told because they bind us to one another. "Joy and sadness were part of the package; the trick, perhaps, was to let yourself feel all of it, but to hold on to the joy just a little more tightly because you never knew when a strong heart could just give out." Joy and sadness are a part of all of us, don't deny any of it, just hold the joy a little closer to your heart.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Saving Each Other
"Saving Each Other" by Victoria Jackson and Ali Guthy
I found this book while watching an Ellen clip on YouTube, she had the authors on the show. It is the story of a teen girl who becomes suddenly very ill and when she is taken to the doctor for tests they discover that she has a very rare and deadly disease, NMO. The disease is like MS but attacks at a much faster rate and with worse symptoms. Doctors knew little about the disease or how to treat it. There were no foundations to help and so little information. So the mother, Victoria Jackson, took it upon herself to get her daughter help. She started a foundation, connected with other people with the disease and started connecting doctors. It is a moving story, written from both the mother and daughters perspectives. It is about the fierce love of a mother and a strong will of the daughter, Ali. "Maybe I can't be saved from being a mom. My consolation is knowing that I'm not so alone in my incurable condition." All of us mothers live with our hearts outside our chests, we have babies of all ages that we will never stop worrying over or loving, but we are not alone. "Be happy for what you've accomplished today, and be grateful, hopeful, and positive about the things you will do tomorrow." One day at a time, one grateful, hopeful moment to the next. I enjoyed the lessons this mother and daughter learned from each other in their trial. Ali learned just how strong and tough her mother is. She learned that her mother would never give up and would fight and stay with her through all of life's ups and downs. Victoria learned that her daughter has quiet strength and amazing perspective in the midst of the worst of times. The worst you can imagine may happen but we are not alone and we can choose what we will do, lay down or get up and fight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)