Sunday, February 13, 2011

Wisdom of Our Mothers

Wisdom of Our Mothers is an anthology of 88 true stories and poems about what the authors learned from their mothers.  Editor Eric Bowen has pledged half his profits from the book to raise funds for shelters for abused mothers and children.

            From the mother who taught her daughter to wire a lamp ("Women should not be dependent on men!") to the mother who recruited the President to save her daughter’s life, the memories of daughters and sons of the remarkable wisdom and dedication of their mothers come to vivid life in this anthology of true stories.


A sampling of Wisdom of Our Mothers:

“You chased that bear away with a fence slat,” I said shakily.
            “Well,” my mother said casually, “I certainly wasn’t going to let it get your guinea pig.”
            And by that I understood that she meant me.  (“Mother Bear,” Kathy Krisko)

“I tell them about my mother with a grade eight education, whose dream it was to get her university degree. How it took her twenty-two years to get there and how she was sixty-six years old when she walked across that stage with her head held high, surrounded by twenty-two year olds.  How it’s never too late.” (“Never Too Late,” Julie Curwin)

“My dear, ‘if’ is the biggest little word in the English language.  Most folks worry their lives away on what never happens.  Apply your ‘what if’s’ to positive possibilities rather than the negative.” (“The What-ifs,” Sally Jadlow)