Things I Want My Daughters To Know by Elizabeth Noble was a complete 180 from Life Laughs. Barbara is a mom of four daughters, three from a previous marriage and her youngest daughter, Hannah, a product of her marriage to her current husband, Mark. Barbara is diagnosed with terminal cancer and in her final days writes letters to her daughters and also writes a journal for them to share. It is hard for me to review this book objectively, because as a mom my biggest fear is leaving my children too soon and not being able to tell them all the things I should be able to if I had a lifetime. At the center of the book is the theme that love is strong and especially that of a mother for her child. Children sometimes look at their parents as if they are perfect, but they are not and these girls find out that their mom was just a woman, a fallible human being who loved them with every ounce of her being through her letters to them.
One of my favorite passages "Please know that you had mine, unconditional, and powerful an awesome. So strong that I cannot believe it will die with me. I want to imagine it as a living thing that goes on beyond my body, and my death, as a vine that has grown and wound it's way through the very core of all of you and cannot be uprooted or destroyed, but rather will hold you up erect when everything else is crumbling and withering inside you."
I'll be honest this is not an easy read, it is heavy and sad and to be completely honest I didn't know if I'd make it through it. BUT, it made me think, it made me cry and I'm glad I finished it. It is hard to say I enjoyed it, but I though it was a good read. If you end up reading it, let me know what you think!
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