A New Memoir (is that an oxymoron?) – The Long Goodbye
Today I was introduced to an interesting author, Meghan O’Rourke via the New York Times article title: Why We Write About Grief. The article intrigued me not only because it discussed Ms. O’Rourke’s new book, The Long Goodbye: a memoir, about losing her mother to cancer which obviously resonates with me, but also because the topic is personally relevant as I try to continually refine the purpose of this blog.
My intention with Periwinkle Papillon is to have posts that are both a mix of memories of my mom as well as topics that interest me in my daily life. I don’t want this blog to feel heavy but I do want it to accurately reflect what it’s felt like to be both a “motherless daughter” and now a “parentless parent“. See, just those terms feel sooo heavy…
In The Long Goodbye, Ms. O’Rourke writes about losing her mother at the age of 53 when she was 30. Pretty much the same age for me and my mom: she passed away at 53 and I was 25. She writes about the aftermath of this loss at such a pivotal age and trying to understand how to grieve in the modern world around her. When I read this interview in the New York Times, I was struck by this quote:
Memoir is usually seen as an internal psychological exploration. But I felt that I wasn’t just writing about the personal loss of my mother; I was also mapping the intimate contours of this mysterious transformation we all experience, because that’s what I’d wanted when my mother died: a more resonant description than “the stages of grief” could offer.
- Meghan O’Rourke
It’s like she read my mind. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross is the authority on death and grieving – but the 5 stages of grief just didn’t sum it up for me. Still don’t.
I’m really looking forward to this book, it’s available now for pre-order at Amazon (due out in April):
The Long Goodbye - Meghan O'Rourke
Let me know if you read it and we can do an on-line bookclub.
