My guest today is author Lynne Gentry who shares her memories of her mother. Here’s Lynne:
I remember Mama shaking her head and saying, “Girl, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”
My mother was a practical woman. She loved to squeeze numbers into straight little columns and make them add up. In her opinion, everything in life was either black or white.
The hero of many make-believe battles
I, on the other hand, loved to stand on the hill overlooking our wheat fields, cram a stick into the ground, and pretend the world could hear my voice. On hot summer days, I would spend hours squirreled away in a treehouse or a fort made of hay bales. My vivid imagination converted these everyday places into castles or frontier outposts. I was the hero of many make-believe battles.
My mother and I were so different.
She worried that a girl who could sell wind in a bag might never have a productive life. I thought she considered me a disappointment. We clashed. A lot.
It wasn’t until I became a mother that I really began to understand the fragility of the mother/daughter relationship. I longed to bridge the divide with my mother and I wanted to prevent the same divide from forming with my daughter.
When parents and children don’t see eye to eye
it creates strife. Are we doomed to remain at odds?
Writing fiction has given me the opportunity to dig beneath the surface and explore unique ways to unite two very different people with the same DNA. What have I learned?
Honest conversations are a must.
Nine years ago my mother was diagnosed
with cancer. For two years, I flew home one week a month to care for her. My children were teenagers and I had my own parenting issues. I really didn’t have time to sit with my mother, but I did. It was during these long days of waiting for the end that we were forced to get to know each other. To ease my mother’s pain, I told her stories. To ease my pain, she showed me her well-organized pictures, family histories, and finances. A new and deep appreciation for both of our strengths emerged during this time of weakness.
We extended grace. We learned to love each other.
My mother lived to see my first book published. I remember showing it to her on my computer. She dragged her hand over the screen, smiled, and said, “Who knew that selling wind in a bag would pay off.”
I remember Mama. She taught me everything that matters.–Lynne
To purchase, click here. Healer of Carthage: A Novel (The Carthage Chronicles)
BLURB
The first in The Carthage Chronicles series, Healer of Carthage launches Dr. Lisbeth Hastings into third-century Carthage. Desperate to survive in this unknown world, Lisbeth is forced to grapple with slavery, religious persecution, and disease. Against this dark backdrop, romance, justice, and courage take center stage.
Thanks so much for sharing, Lynne. Does anybody else want to leave what they remember about their mama in a comments?–Lyn
For more online:
Website: http://lynnegentry.com/
Facebook: Author Lynne Gentry https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Lynne-Gentry/215337565176144
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lynne_Gentry
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/lynnegentry7/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imh1AwR698Y
Simon & Schuster: http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Lynne-Gentry/412732530
