What book had the most significant impact on you?
Terms of Endearment by Larry McMurtry. I read it when I was twenty one years old. I lost my mother to cancer when I was sixteen. I felt so guilty after she died. I was a typical teen. I remember praying she would get better just so she could take care of me. I still watched a music show after school even though the sound must have been awful for her. She never complained. I would sit with her in her bed but never for long. I was so concerned with how her illness affected me. I loved her and needed her so much. I never completely lost the feeling of guilt that I could have done more for her. Been a better
daughter. Then years later after I married and had a child I read Terms of Endearment. Emma said goodbye to her boys and tells her older boy not to feel bad about being a teen. She knows he loves her. She gets him. When I read that it made me know that my mother knew how I felt about her even though I was so self involved when she was dying. It let me let go. I cried so hard while reading this book. My three year old daughter came to me and put her little arms around me in comfort. I remember this moment as if it were yesterday. Not the best book I’ve ever read but the most impactful.
A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.-Neil Gaiman
ReplyDeleteAhh, I miss her so much. I know now that she suffered far more that we could ever have know. She kept that from us.
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