Monday, March 29, 2010

Memoir Monday... Lift by Kelly Corrigan


Lift by Kelly Corrigan... I came across this little book, 96 pages, as I was wandering the bookstore... It was such a beautiful looking little book so I picked it up. I'm not a mother, but I had a childhood and Kelly's wonderful writing and wry sense of humor grabbed me from the start. Written as a letter to her children, Kelly relays her deepest fears, frustrations and fierce love through the weaving of three relevant stories from her life. It’s the kind of book that will make you pause for a moment and take stock of the riches in your life…

Here's what the publisher says..."Kelly Corrigan’s Lift is a tender, intimate, and robust portrait of risk and love; a touchstone for anyone who wants to live more fully. In Lift, Corrigan weaves together three true and unforgettable stories of adults willing to experience emotional hazards in exchange for the gratifications of raising children.

Lift takes its name from hang gliding, a pursuit that requires flying directly into rough air, because turbulence saves a glider from “sinking out.” For Corrigan, this wisdom—that to fly requires chaotic, sometimes even violent passages—becomes a metaphor for all of life’s most meaningful endeavors, particularly the great flight that is parenting.

Corrigan serves it up straight—how mundanely and fiercely her children have been loved, how close most lives occasionally come to disaster, and how often we fall short as mothers and fathers. Lift is for everyone who has been caught off guard by the pace and vulnerability of raising children, to remind us that our work is important and our time limited."

Kelly Corrigan writes, "I heard once that the average person barely knows tens stories from childhood and those are based more on photographs and retellings than memory..." If you take one thing away from Lift, it should be that life passes by swiftly and we should take a moment to stop and breath it all in. A loving testament, Lift can be appreciated not only by parents, but anyone with parents...

You can read an excerpt of Lift at everywomansvoice.com

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