Nothing Like Normal: Surviving a Sibling’s Schizophrenia by Martha Graham-Waldon | Memoir Review

SYNOPSIS

What if you woke up one day, living with a family member who had changed into an entirely different person? What if she were an older sibling you had always admired and strived to be like? And what if you were an insecure preteen when it all started? What would that do to your life?

Martha Graham-Waldon’s memoir entitled, Nothing Like Normal: Surviving a Sibling’s Schizophrenia, chronicles the trajectory of her sister’s thirty-year battle with schizophrenia. Two years younger, the author watched her beloved sister descend into madness, nearly pulling the author down with her into a shadowy and baffling black hole of despair.

Memoir-in-Progress Update

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Where is my memoir?

After many months, here is an update on the status of my memoir. Over the last year plus, obstacles attempted to sabotage my efforts. In all honesty, I tried to sabotage the entire book multiple times.

Thankfully I’m married to a man, also a creative, who would not let me turn loose of my dream. He persistently reminded me of conversations we’d had wherein I told him how much I wanted this to happen. To be a published author has been a dream for so long. Bob, love that you’ve got my back and push me forward!

Scattering Ashes: A Memoir of Letting Go by Joan Rough | Review

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BOOK Description

When her alcoholic and emotionally abusive mother s health declines, Joan Rough invites her to move in with her. Rough longs to be the good daughter, helping her narcissistic mother face the reality of her coming death. But when repressed memories of childhood abuse by her mother arise, Rough is filled with deep resentment and hatred toward the woman who birthed her, and her dream of mending their tattered relationship shatters. Seven years later, when her mother dies, she is left with a plastic bag of her mother s ashes and a diagnosis of PTSD. What will she do with them?

In Praise of Libraries and Bookmobiles | National Library Week

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The only thing you absolutely have to know, is the
location of the library.
~ Albert Einstein

It’s National Library Week.

I don’t know about you, but several libraries played a role in my love of reading and, yes, writing. During National Library Week, I want to pay homage to Andrew Carnegie, a wealthy industrialist who believed in sharing his wealth by helping others. Among those institutions founded through his contributions are the buildings housing many of our country’s libraries.

Initially, architecturally these buildings were similar in design and construction. However, as times changed and styles changed, so did the buildings housing the Carnegie libraries. It was never the building that made the library; it was the books inside and the people who maintained the library.

What I’m Learning About Self-Care | Writer’s Perspective (Part 2)

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In my post a few days ago, I focused on the topic of self-care. I shared the things I believe I did wrong in caring for myself during my working life and the last few years as a writer. Today I want to share what I’ve learned along the way (and ignored). And I’ll share some new things I have read recently about caring for yourself as you write.

TIPS FOR INCLUDING SELF-CARE IN YOUR DAY

This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list. These are tips that work for me IF I remember to use them. If there is something you feel should be in this list, I hope you’ll share it in a comment below.

What I’m Learning About Self-Care | Writer’s Perspective (Part 1)

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The term “self-care” has been on the lips of many for some time, but not as often as since the election of 2016. In the days and months following, many were angry, frustrated, discouraged, depressed even. Self-care was the pathway for many to place those emotions on a shelf.

Putting the election aside, I want to look at self-care from a writer’s perspective. Based on my working and writing life experiences, I’ll share bad choices I made in caring for myself. Over the last 14 months have had time to ruminate over the past and how it played a part in my current situation.

Sherrey Meyer

Memoir – essay – creative nonfiction