I have been in the waiting room for the past few days. Yes. I was waiting for my copy of Letters for my Little Sister to pop through my door.
Letters for my Little Sister
I knew it was on the way. Each day there was news from The Fellowship’ of the Farmy, that readers and contributors had received their books. They were actually holding a copy in their hot little hands.
I write as I speak. My contribution is my story, in my words. Simple words.
Mine was an instant response, I wanted to write it before I changed my mind. Once begun, my fingers would not stop. I wanted to share. To let other women know they were not alone, what was happening to them, had happened to other women. Just as there are no text book bodies, there are no text book/alarm clock menopauses. Each is unique, but there are similarities in the symptoms.
As I waited, I worried: Did I ramble rubbishingly with unnecessary detail? Then I consoled myself…
IF IT HELPS JUST ONE WOMAN, THEN IT WILL HAVE BEEN WORTHWHILE!
There are 68 contributions, no, strike that, there are SIXTY NINE contributions altogether. Number sixty nine comes in two parts – the opening and closing of this wonderful book. No better way to begin and end than with the words of Cecilia B W Gunther, the inspiration behind the project. A project to share personal stories about a hidden and sometimes forbidden topic: The Menopause.
Tales long and short in poetry and prose, from all corners of the globe, with just one aim: To help our sisters, cousins, aunts, nieces and granddaughters. This book will have you laughing one minute and close to tears in the next, so tissues at the ready….
Letters for my Little Sister is available on Amazon.com go check out the reviews, you know you want to.
Cecilia Buyswheeler Gunther, originally from New Zealand, is now married to an American living on the prairies of Illinois, USA. She spends her life writing and managing her own sustainable farm, She is the founder and writer/photographer for the blog The Kitchen’s Garden. We the contributors, are part of a band of regular readers who comment on the blog.
Now all I need to do is deliver the other copies to my little sister and to Elly, my daughter.
Enjoy!
I’m off to bed to reread (properly) all the contributions.
Congratulations!
Tilly, I am only one of 69 people involved in this venture.
Well done you!!
XO
WWW
WWW, as I said above: If it helps just one woman, then it will have been worthwhile!
I am giving this a push in fb for all my female friends and relatives.
Thank you, Ramana.
My copy just arrived also, Marie. I didn’t contribute, but I’m eager to read the stories shared. And I bought a copy for my daughter. Celi is an amazing woman…no doubt about that!
Debra, Celi is 100% amazing and inspiring with everything she does.
An interesting book on an under-discussed subject. It’s curious that some women are quite devastated by the menopause, both physically and emotionally, while others sail through it with no problem at all, barely aware it’s happened. Can you give us a flavour of your contribution?
Nick, I know women from both sides of the fence. I unfortunately was on the tough side. One thing that I discovered from reading the contributions was that those with…. let’s call it rounded shapes (dare I say more weight?), had an easier journey. My piece was quite long, you want a snippet? Here goes:
“Three years after my daughter was born, the word and symptoms of ‘Menopause’ raised an ugly head. I went to see my local doctor armed with a list as long as a month of Sundays. (Nineteen items in total #19)
Did he help?
Not one tiny bit. The doctor said that I was too young for the menopause and to come back in a couple of years if the symptoms persisted! Dinner preparation was a noisy affair that day and fortunately there was nobody about to hear me. I banged the pots on to the cooker (I think I have a chip in the enamel to this very day), I shouted at the walls, peeled spuds through my tears but was calmed down by the time my husband arrived to enfold me in his arms and give me comfort and wipe away my fresh round of tears……………………”
Thankfully, I survived it. I remember a neighbour, when I was just into teens, she was a wife and mother of half a dozen children, she could not cope. Her youngest child came home from Primary/Junior school and found her dead in the kitchen, with her head in the gas oven!!
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What a useless doctor. And how dreadful that your neighbour found it all so unbearable that she killed herself. If only she’d had some effective help and support.
Nick, when I was twelve, we were in the dark ages of caring for women’s needs.