Copyright 2000, 2001, 2007, 2008 by Familia Books

Why you will want this book

Do you ever think about what you learned from your mother?

Do you ever consider:
who you are
what your values are
what you believe
what goals you pursue
how you relate to others
...and how your mother shaped all that?

Are you interested in parenting, and how you impart lessons and values to your children?

Do you need a memorable gift for a special woman in your life – your mother, your wife, or someone else’s mother?

When buying something of value, do you also want to help a good cause – in this case, the campaign against domestic violence?

If any of this is true of you, then you will want to know more about Wisdom of Our Mothers.

Introduction

From the mother who taught her daughter to wire a lamp (“Women should not be dependent on men!”) to the mother who recruited the President to save her daughter’s life, the memories of daughters and sons of the remarkable wisdom and dedication of their mothers come to vivid life in this anthology of true stories, Wisdom of Our Mothers.

What have we learned from our mothers? How we feel about what we learned? How does it affect the way we live our lives? Hundreds of writers answered these questions in stories and poems sent to this site. Eighty-nine of their works were chosen for the anthology. Themes of dedication, joy of living, virtues, heritage, emotional, relationship, and practical skills are explored in these real-life accounts of the authors’ mothers.

Everyone has a mother, and readers will doubtlessly find stories in this anthology that relate to their own experiences. Yet the book isn’t sentimental. The mothers profiled in the stories are human. Their virtues are balanced by their flaws, and in some cases, the lessons learned from those flaws form the basis of the story.

A sampling of Wisdom of Our Mothers:

“You chased that bear away with a fence slat,” I said shakily.
“Well,” my mother said casually, “I certainly wasn’t going to let it get your guinea pig.”
And by that I understood that she meant me. (“Mother Bear,” Kathy Krisko)

“I tell them about my mother with a grade eight education, whose dream it was to get her university degree. How it took her twenty-two years to get there and how she was sixty-six years old when she walked across that stage with her head held high, surrounded by twenty-two year olds. How it’s never too late.” (“Never Too Late,” Julie Curwin)

“My dear, ‘if’ is the biggest little word in the English language. Most folks worry their lives away on what never happens. Apply your “what if’s” to positive possibilities rather than the negative.” (“The What-ifs,” Sally Jadlow)

In Nigeria, a mother advises her son: “Don’t dig a pit for anyone, or you’ll fall in right after them.” (“Tales Beside the Grinding Stone,” Oluwafemi Reis)

In India, after her four-year-old son’s insult to her cooking, a young mother recalls her mother’s teaching: “…so, should we get the opportunity to love or be loved, we needs must assign to the flames of forgetfulness all that is unworthy of enduring love.” (“The Ignoble Insult,” Deepanjolie Figg)

Opposing domestic violence:

In honor of those mothers doing their work in the most difficult of circumstances, editor Eric Bowen has pledged to donate one-half of his profits from the sale of this book to shelters for women and their children who are escaping abusive relationships.

copyright 2007

Last updated Saturday, December 4, 2010