Last Mother’s Day I was preoccupied—I was editing the Wisdom Has a Voice anthology, consumed with final proofreading issues and details of book design. As the editor, I felt the burden of perfection.
Now after the successful launch of the book and many positive reviews, I realize that this book has become an evocative gift for Mothers and their daughters.
In the introduction to the book, I wrote: “Mother is the silent icon of our times.” My desire was to bring Mother into the spotlight as a real person through the eyes of her daughters—to speak of her and for her. In doing so, we could begin to understand the wisdom inherent in mothering and give her wisdom a voice.
Since the memoirs written by 25 very different women have been read and shared, I can see that our work has gone beyond the pages of this book. What readers tell me is that the stories and memories trigger theirs. When a group meets to discuss the book, they begin to tell their own stories about Mother.
It’s not that every memory reflects a flawless Mother who lives up to the impossible expectations of our society: career, home, beauty, unconditional love for her children, etc. Our stories share the complexity and conflicts of motherhood through real incidents told with insight and compassion.
Through these stories we see the binds of limited opportunities in past generations of Mothers and their inability to develop a separate identity. We understand the resentments that one generation of Mothers can hold against their own daughters who had many more options than they.
In spite of all of these issues, we often marvel at the endurance of Mothers, Grandmothers, and Godmothers to face challenges, illness, and financial crises and remain loyal to their duties of home and family.
Most of all, stories and memoirs are a way to honor our Mothers even while they are still with us. And what we can ultimately learn from a compendium of stories about Mother is her essence. In fact, I found that I learned more from the memoirs that showed a lack of Mother love: sometimes what is missing is most acutely described.
This Mother’s Day give the gift of story to your mother. Stories tell what words cannot say.
Our anthology, Wisdom Has a Voice: Every Daughter’s Memories of Mother, is an inspiring book to read memories together and to begin telling your own!
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