From the time I was young, my greatest wish in life was to be a mother. If I were to be perfectly honest, I would have to say that the main reason I married at a young age was to achieve that dream. In my generation, it would have been unheard of to simply wake up one day, realize my eggs were getting old, and have in vitro. It didn't exist, and if it had, no one would have felt free to discuss it. We got married and had our babies.
My dream came true twice and I have been blessed with two extraordinary daughters. I cheered them on, as all moms do, encouraging them to follow their dreams and not accept defeat. I believed in them so strongly, and couldn't imagine that the rest of the world wouldn't see what I saw.
My daughter, Lori Berhon, was a voracious reader from the time she could hold a book. The walls of our house are lined with hundreds of books on all subjects. To her, each book is a friend to be treasured. She has also written plays for theatre and screenplays. I watched her face when letters of rejection arrived and my heart broke. She got tired of my words of encouragement: "You're my mother, of course you think I'm great. I need to hear it from someone else," she'd tell me. I had no answer except to keep saying, "You'll see, someday." So easy to say. I wouldn't believe me, either.
Last year she decided to bite the bullet and self publish her latest novel, The Breast of Everything. I had read it in its original draft and had doubts. Would there be an audience for something this unusual? I was afraid to give her the old "you'll see" spiel. She figured out a way to get it self-published without spending a fortune, even designing the cover herself, and behold a BOOK was born. As her mom, I of course ordered the first copy available, and when I held it in my hand I held hope.
I admit that most times when I read a book I skip paragraphs. I may be my daughters' mother, but I do not have their education or the vocabulary to venture into their literary world. I was afraid I wouldn't like the book, but was determined to read it slowly and carefully.
The most amazing unexpected thing happened, I couldn't put it down. I was in awe of not just her command of the English language, but the message that her protagonist was trying to impart to the world. I was never so proud in my life. When I went on Amazon.com and opened her page I found someone had written an amazing review expressing all I would have said.
Since then, it has been my mission in life to get this marvelous book into strangers' hands. I have written about it on my Facebook page and encouraged all my "friends" to purchase it. It would make me very happy if I could tell the whole world to read this treasure!
I encouraged my daughter to believe in her dreams, even when they seemed to be so out of reach. I feel strongly that this dream is within her grasp -- to see that happen would be all I could ever wish for.