The Book

It is said Southern Women are Steel Magnolias, and that is often the case. I decided to write a book about the strongest Magnolia I knew, a true Magnolia grandiflora - my mother. Like anyone, there were many sides to her. She was extremely complicated, to say the least. Her lifetime was full of love and loss, joy and hardship, downfalls and redemption, relapse and recovery. But through it all, there were some things she never lost sight of: always mind your manners, pay your Junior League dues, and don't forget to polish the silver. And when it was all over, I learned she was even more complicated than I thought. I loved her so, but like so many of us, never told her enough.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Welcome

To help introduce my book, this labor of love, I thought I would share bits and pieces here. For those readers who follow my Blog: My Life a Bit South of Normal , you will recognize some of this because I have been writing about Mama for years. And in total frustration when she was driving me crazy, like all our mothers do at times, I always said I'm going to write a book about this, but she'll have to die first. Unfortunately, she died way too early. 

So, a year or so after her death, I decided why not? Perhaps I would find it cathartic. What I found when I started pulling the memories of her from my childhood, my teenage years, and my adulthood was not exactly what I expected. She was much more complicated than I realized. And the more I wrote, the more I realized how much she meant to me and how much I miss her.

Yes, she was smart and talented. She was southern to the core. She was a raging alcoholic for years. She overcame incredible odds to sober up, and never looking back or wallowing in self pity, moved on with her life. She was a mother, a grandmother, and a friend. 

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