MOM

On Mother’s Day we celebrate the women who brought us into this world and what they taught us. My mother was a Kansas farm wife who made me believe I could do whatever I wanted to do, be whatever I wanted to be, and go where ever I want to go. By teaching me that failure was not a shame, but low aim was, she gave me the gift of confidence.

Mom never liked her physical life on the farm, so she discovered how to find her peace and happiness from within. This is another lesson that I got from her: “You may be confined physically, but there is absolutely no limit to how far your mind can go.”

Whenever Mom was feeling down or discouraged, she would go to the library and bring home a stack of self-help and spiritual books, (along with a Danielle Steele romance novel). She would sit up and read at night after she got Dad tucked in bed. That was her time to unplug and relax and escape her role as a caregiver. Through her example I learned the importance of claiming some time for myself each day.

Mom loved books. She would get totally immersed and lose all sense of time and place while she was reading. She would get as excited about a new idea as some women get about a new dress. She would become “friends” with characters in books and would think about them while she went about the mundane tasks of caring for my dad during the day. Books were her primary caregiving survival tool.

That’s why I want to share her book with you. I published “Letters from Madelyn, Chronicles of a Caregiver” in 2007. Last fall I recorded it in her voice (as I still hear it in my head). The audio version is available for free on my CaregiverHelp.com website.
Click on the link below to access it.

My cousin Lauri once said, “When I get a letter from Madelyn, I brew a pot of coffee and sit down and spend the morning with her.” I hope you’ll do the same!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!