Hello ,As many of you know it's been a rough week saying good-bye to my brother-in-law Javier. When you lose someone you love, you wonder how the world can just go on like it does. The rain still falls, cars go by, people haggle
over the last piece of bacon. The gift of grieving is the compassion that comes with the realization that it's not my grief. It's our grief. In every small town and big city, someone's heart is breaking over the loss of a loved one. In every language spoken on earth people cry out in sorrow. Grief is born of love. Can we let our
hearts be tender to its touch? |
Believing Contradictions Builds Resilience |
Everyday life is full of contradictions, situations where opposites are true at the same time. Practicing our ability to hold opposing truths builds resilience and lies at the core of a full and healthy
life. After Javier's accident and traumatic brain injury, my sister Virginia lived with contradiction for seven-and-a-half weeks. She held hope and belief that her husband would recover, and she knew it was possible he wouldn't survive. Virginia cried in anguish, prayed with faith and she also laughed with joy. The staff at the hospital loved
her. (As do we all) They continually spoke of her courage, her warmth, and her commitment to Javier. In between helping with Javier's therapy, she crocheted scarves for other patients! She attuned to joy in the midst of deep sorrow. Virginia also juggled the contradictions innate between the needs of her husband and the needs of her young children. I love to see her smile and talk about her children. She told me a
story about her five-year-old who said, "When Daddy comes home, I'm going to teach him his numbers and colors. Ten plus ten is twenty. Daddy's brain doesn't know that. But mine does." Virginia's practice of holding both joy and sorrow has strengthened her for the days of grief to come. This ability to hold and feel the opposites of joy and sorrow is
critical to resilience. To cling only to sorrow, even though sorrow is true, leads to depression and/or bitterness. To cling solely to joy and not acknowledge the depths of pain and loss leads to numbness. Most days, we will not deal with the extremes that Virginia faced. On the periphery of her story, I have practiced being present to her and to my own grief, while at the same time celebrating the launch of PURE GRIT and
my joy in work well done. Grasping such contradictions helped the American WWII nurses survive combat and prison camp. In the midst of danger, fear and death, cracking jokes was one way the women stayed centered. For instance, when nurses couldn't bring themselves to eat due to anxiety during the air raids, one joked that if hit, their chances of survival
would be better on an empty stomach. U.S. Army Nurses at 126th General Hospital, Leyte, P.I., February 14, 1945. L to R, Helen Cassini, Anne Wurtz, Alice Zwicker, Letha McHale, Kay Acorn, Rita Palmer. After nearly three years in prison camp, the nurses continued to find humor in their situation to help keep their spirits up. Despite the hardships they suffered, the women grasped any excuse to celebrate. Continued here...
PURE GRIT Goes into Second Printing |
People have asked how PURE GRIT is selling, but it can be difficult for authors to get hard sales figures, especially in the early months after release. One sign that it's selling well, however, is that your editor e-mails to say it's going into
a second print run. I know from experience this does not usually happen three weeks after the book come came out!
So...PURE GRIT is selling great, thank you! If you noticed any typos or errors in your copy--don't be shy. Let me know, as this is my chance to correct them.
Thanks so much for your
support! Thanks to The Bulletin of The Center for Children's Books for giving PURE GRIT a starred review! The review will
appear in the April 1st issue.
This week over at Author of... blogger Kate Hannigan interviewed me about the research process for PURE GRIT and my hopes for the book. Check that out here.
School Library Journal's review will also come out in April. Here's a preview:
This well-researched volume tells the story of the army and navy nurses who were stationed in the Philippines during World War II. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese began bombing the Philippines. The 79 nurses serving there came from different backgrounds: some longed for an escape from farm life, while others
sought adventure. All wanted to find meaningful work caring for others. During the bombardment, their subsequent retreat and, finally, their imprisonment by the Japanese, the nurses never stopped taking care of those around them. After months of near starvation, they were finally liberated by American forces in 1945. Yet even when the nurses arrived home, their troubles were not over. Many had difficulty readjusting to life at home; their experiences just didn't fit the paradigm of women's
lives in the mid-20th century. As part of her research, Farrell interviewed the last surviving nurse, plus the children of many of the others, and the text is full of primary source documentation. This adds rich detail to make the circumstances all the more real, whether they are the injuries the nurses treated or the horrific conditions in the prison camps. In addition to photographs and helpful maps, the page layouts include facsimiles of the nurses' letters and diaries. Young readers who
enjoyed Tanya Lee Stone's Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream will also appreciate this story of courageous women whose story was nearly forgotten.-Jackie Partch, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR Thanks for your time! If you'd like to get your hands on a copy of PURE GRIT, Here's the place! If I will not be coming to your area soon and you'd like a signed copy of the book, e-mail me and I will mail
you a signed bookplate. Please forward this newsletter to friends who might enjoy it. To find out more about my books, how I help students, teachers and librarians,
visit my website at www.MaryCronkFarrell.com. I'm also available for skype chats. Yours Truly, Mary Questions? Comments? Contact me at MaryCronkFarrell@gmail.com. Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. |
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