In September, I attended the YWCA Leaders’ Luncheon with Mom. Jeannette Walls was the speaker. She’s the one who wrote The Glass Castle, which has been a struggle for lots of people to read because it’s so depressing, and Half Broke Horses, which I’ve yet to read. In her talk, she reiterated many topics that she covered in her first book; however, she mentioned some other things that I want to be sure I don’t forget:

• when she asked her mom about writing the book, her mom assured her that she should tell the truth about her life
• for a long time, she said that she pretended that her mom, her past didn’t exist, but it all caught up to her
• her worst demon is herself
• when she first wrote her book she hoped that one day a rich kid would read; later, she hoped that someone like her would read it and have hope
• she used to think that happiness meant feeling superior to others
• before you can forgive others, you have to forgive yourself first

In early October I jotted down some notes about my frustrations with service at church, particularly committee work:

• sense of not getting anything done
• lots of disagreements
• opportunity to listen
• practice patience
• discover way to agree, collaborate
• intersections between al-anon, teaching, church, family, marriage = need to be open-minded, think critically, listen, support