The Art of Reassembly

 

If your mom is dead, is she still your mom? At twenty-five—nearly two decades after losing her mother to breast cancer as a little girl—an accident on a downtown street unleashes startling emotional reactions in Peg Conway, and this question starts to percolate. She comes to understand what she’s experiencing as long-buried childhood grief, and as she marries and becomes a mother herself, Peg’s intense feelings challenge her to offer herself compassion. Gradually she confronts how growing up surrounded by silence in a family that moved on from sorrow had caused her to suppress her mother’s memory for far too long. Ultimately, after excavating all the layers, Peg finds her mom again, and in the process discovers that truth, no matter how painful, heals.

My Review

I can not imagine the feelings that author, Peg must have felt with the loss of her mom at such a young age. I am fortunate, that my mom is still alive. Yet, she is getting older and I know one day my life will be in a stand still with the loss. It is something I think about but at the same time I try to push the thoughts as far away as I can. 

While I have not felt the same loss that Peg does in her book; I did feel like Peg gave a very real insight to grief. She not only had to navigate her mom's loss but many, many years later her stepmom and father. Being a caregiver to a family family can be vey overwhelming. This book was slow reading for me but that is because at times I was really digesting what I was reading. Readers who have experienced the loss of a mom or even dad may be able to relate to Peg's story.