Having trouble crying? Then read this one: The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

MPSunshine

I haven't been on this site for a long time and was moved to post here by this book.

Brilliantly written and tightly constructed, Julie takes us on the journey of her mom through her mom's decline. I think it was by chapter 3, I was sobbing, and then weeping at the description of the importance of trees. (I remember how my parents cherished looking at the trees for hours with a kind of reverence, majestic beings.) Julie takes us on a walk through her mom's memories, including her mom's early memories being incarcerated in a Japanese internment camp (a chilling reminder of how mass hysteria can sweep a nation towards questionable knee-jerk reactions), and her mom's marriage and family life. The intimacy of the mother/daughter relationship shines through every page. I highly recommend this book to anyone caring for a parent.

Image: Tree outside our home

To anyone who remembers me from before: It's been about seven years my mom died. Not that much support out there for grieving. The first few months, of course, there's the ritual prescribing of an antidepressant (since discontinued), the "prescription" for a grief support group (not really helpful for me since in my particular grief support group there were many tragic, inexplicable losses, many spouses who were truly lost without their beloved partners, and I felt my circumstances were so shallow compared to theirs). I was supposed to feel "free," but the weight of all those years took and is still taking so much time to process. I have just recently started a "bucket list," which so far includes sky-diving, traveling to Italy and Africa and other countries. We have a new dear puppy, and constructed a green house with our own hands in the backyard.

I'll sign off for now. (Please read the book!)

Kindly,

MPSunshine