Last night at the end of our Father's Day dinner, our son asked me if I had my mom's recipe for Peach Ping. And he wanted to know if I would give it to him or better yet make it for him. I told him not only did I have the recipe; I would gladly make it. And that simple question brought up a very sad memory. The last time I made it was in August 2013, a few months before our dear friend Cynthia died. I made dinner for our group of friends, including Cynthia and her husband, and baked my mom's peach ping for dessert. That was the last time all eight of us were together. I found the recipe in my mother's recipe box. One of these days I will copy the recipes each one meticulously typed on now-yellowed four by six cards and publish them in a book to share with my family. Here's the recipe for Peach Ping: 10 to 12 peaches ½ cup butter or margarine 1-1/2 cups brown sugar, packed 1 tsp grated lemon peel 2 … [Read more...]
Book clubs – a way to sell books
Two Tuesdays nights in a row I had the pleasure of being the guest of honor at book club discussions of my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On: A Mother's Memoir of Living With Her Son's Bipolar Disorder and Surviving His Suicide (Lucky Press, 2011). Last week we had just a short question and answer discussion about the how I prepared the book and the benefits the writing of it had in my healing process. Only one person asked the questions. Last night in a room full of fifteen or so women, the questions kept flying from each one of them, starting with did I think I left anything out of the book to how do I feel twelve years later as I speak about the loss of my son. Does it still affect me emotionally? We also discussed what stigma is and does it still exist, psychopharmacology versus talk therapy, jails versus hospitals in caring for the mentally ill, and whether or not I think my son's former girlfriend has read my book (I don't think so, but of course I'll never really … [Read more...]
WOW blog tour stop No. 9
Today I'm the guest of Cindy Hudson's MOTHER daughter BOOK CLUB READING TOGETHER FOR life CINDY HUDSON AND HER DAUGHTERS My topic today is: does the stigma of mental illness still exist. And since this is a site intended for discussions between mothers and daughters, I decided to provide simple facts about what mental illness looks like and what stigma looks like. Just like they talk about drugs and sex, kids need to know about depression and mental health issues. So please take a look at this great mother daughter blog site at: http://motherdaughterbookclub.com/ And yes, the stigma of mental illness still exists. … [Read more...]
