About The Book
Publisher: Aslan Publishing, Fairfield, CT. ISBN Number: 978-0-944031-19-3
Abortions are wrong, Mommy, right? Should gay people burn in hell? Do you know why I only wear jeans to school? How will I know my parents when I get to Heaven?
How Will I Know My Children When I Get to Heaven? A Mother’s Tales of Hope offers a blunt critique on child rearing in America in the 21st century from the unique perspective of a single, immigrant mother and writer raising two daughters in Montgomery County, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
The work is inspired by the children’s questions and the family’s real experiences over 12 years in the United States.
Children and the environment, sexism, racism, multiculturalism, the Achievement Gap, abortion rights, gay rights, unmarried motherhood, stranger danger, sibling rivalry, media influences, obesity, body image, death and dying, integrity, life’s uncertainties, selfhood and materialism, faith, hope and other issues impacting the modern family, all come under the writer’s insightful gaze.
Further, the book explores the wisdom of choices made, as well as our ability to turn even the most unfortunate situations into opportunities for renewal and growth. The classic quotes at the beginning of each chapter capture the essence of the lessons learned and add to its inspirational values.
Chapter two, for example, tells of the writer’s encounter with a vagrant in her neighborhood one day and the questions asked by her young daughter about homelessness, loneliness and failures. Her attempts to answer those questions, about what she thought was an unknown life, yielded the surprising realization that many of them were present in her own experiences—far away from home, in a foreign culture with norms and mores often dissimilar to her own, and only a small paycheck away from homelessness herself.
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Chapter seven discusses the writer’s encounter with a body in a parking lot one evening. The discovery later that no more than five minutes separated her from the first victim of what would become known as the Washington, D.C. Area snipers, triggered deep reflection on the fragility and unpredictability of life. Of course, she was forced to ponder what would have been the fate of the two little girls waiting alone at home, if she and not the unknown stranger had fallen victim to the gunmen’s bullets.
Alongside the challenges, are many great moments such the families two visits to the White House during the Presidency of Bill Clinton, attending the inauguration of the first black president of the United States and the children’s stellar successes in the school system against the odds, all of which are captured in the Grace Notes.
Overall, this is a wonderful collection of stories that connect the lives of millions of ordinary women of all races and cultures from all over the world. It is especially a story for women who struggle against the odds to raise their children with love and dignity, the ability to dream in spite of hardships and how we fail and succeed in the process.
The book is geared at parents generally, but particularly at mothers and women of all ages. It is an ideal gift for Mother’s Day, a mother’s birthday, or Christmas or just a great read on any given day.