Five Reasons to Write Mother Memoir

1. Honor someone other than ourselves. Isn’t it time to go beyond today’s cult of self-absorption by chronicling the spirit of others? 

2. Keep our mothers’ spirits alive. There is nothing like paying tribute to a loved one with a simple written record. A photograph captures a look at best, whereas a bio-vignette captures character and spirit. 

3. Discover the secrets of women from different walks of life. Possibilities for embracing life unfold before us when we read true stories about mothers different from our own. It compels compassion, understanding, and unity. 

4. Create catharsis. The outcome of writing a short, true story about one’s mother results in emotional or psychological healing, when the relationship between the mother and daughter/son was sometimes difficult or rocky. 

5. Become richer from the experience of actually writing a bio-vignette. Those of us who have embarked on this journey reach the other side more thoughtful, more knowing, and more satisfied.

A woman said in one of my classes, “I got so deeply in touch with dormant memories through telling the story that it made me finally understand why my mother couldn’t teach me the mysteries she knew and lived. What it came down to was an actual gelling of self-realization. This was a marvelous, unexpected gift.”