Revised Edition Coming Soon

I know this can be confusing when so many of you have anticipated and read the book when it first came out in January. Now five months later, I continue to try and improve sections that have been keeping me up at night.

The content is the same but I realized (with the help of my sisters Peg and Sue and my dear friend Gayle), that after the surprise ending of Mother’s death bed confessions (in Chapter 39: One Last Trip, Martha Style), it wasn’t fair to the reader to not have some background and anticipation building to the main event which occurred in Chapter 31: Running Out of Options.

Therefore, I went back and sprinkled in more vivid descriptions of Mom’s feelings and mental state, along with her deteriorating patience with trying to live with her husband.

As I updated in my Epilogue:

 Mom's writing was very factual, like she wanted to document the bizarre situations but would not give in to the heartbreak. She was very matter of fact and suppressed her emotions her whole adult life. We would all love to have known her when she was allowed to sing and cuddle her babies. She had to learn how to not show her feelings. I am sure it was eating away at her to not be able to express herself when the kids were young, or when she was held captive at the farm. Perhaps showing little or no emotion was her defense mechanism, to keep the unbearable reality and perceived failure at bay. Perhaps it was due to being brainwashed, along with wanting to keep the fantasy alive, that the marriage would work out, and she would be loved and appreciated after all. Whatever the reason, I shudder to think how she could have been so completely and selfishly consumed by another human being.

I wanted to paint a more detailed picture to properly describe her situation. My purpose in writing Mom's story is so that her life was not in vain.