I'm telling my story at Richview Public Library. See you there!
MAR
25
It's been a good many years since I sat in my bathrobe on the kitchen floor with a glass of wine in my hand and tears streaming down my face while my nine-year-old asked, "Why is mom crying?" I didn't have the heart to tell him the truth---that I wished I could vanish from this earth with the secret burden of pain that had afflicted me since childhood.
A mother is supposed to be strong; I was shamefully weak. A wife is supposed to be loving; I was lost in my own mental thicket. An up-and-coming editor is supposed to be full of energy; I had to fake it, waiting for my chance to fall into bed and close my eyes to life.
It didn't enter my mind that I could one day edit Canada's best read women's magazine. Or write a memoir in which women would find themselves and their mothers. Or walk into a buzzing cocktail reception without thinking to myself, "I don't belong here." But all of this and more became possible after I called a mental health clinic and made a life of hope and vitality.
On April 8 at 7 p.m., I'll be telling my story at Richview Public Library, 1806 Islington Ave. Co-sponsored by Reconnect Mental Health Services, the event is free but you do need a ticket. Call 416-394-5120 to reserve yours.
Copies of My Mother's Daughter will be available for purchase at the special price of $20 (cash or cheque only; I'm doing this myself the low-tech way). I'd be honoured to sign one for you or a special woman in your life. Remember, Mother's Day is coming up!
I wanted to die back then; now I love my life. But I'll never forget how it feels to be laid low by depression---an invisible illness that strikes one in five women at some point in their lives. That's why I tell my story
Posted by Rona March 25, 2010 @ 11:19 AM. File in Rona's appearances
Your comments
March 26, 2010 at 9:09AM
I suffer from major depression, had clinical depression, a total meltdown just two years after my mother died and still carry those psychological scars, plus health-related reactive depression, low-grade depression, aka dysthymia and seasonal affective disorder.
I'm now under treatment by a wonderful psychiatrist to work out the many twists and turns of my tortured home life, a dysfunctional family dynamic, more so emotionally (criticism) and rejection from my father.
My sister typed in our mother's name and her reply e-mail to me, said...."omigod"! and she saw your Talk to Rona and there was my mother's picture and how I felt watching her die. She told me recently, by e-mail, that if I were to read letters from our mother, to me, in the late 70's, she talked about depression, which I didn't realize she suffered from, so, between my parents, it's a genetic thing.
I've accepted that my depression is permanent, but controllable, while my sister can't. She feels her mind has betrayed her.