 | Katrina Kenison: The Gift of an Ordinary DayGrand Central Publishing The Gift of an Ordinary Day is an intimate memoir of a family in transition-boys becoming teenagers, careers ending and new ones opening up, an attempt to find a deeper sense of place, and a slower pace, in a small New England town. It is a story of mid-life longings and discoveries, of lessons learned in the search for home and a new sense of purpose, and the bittersweet intensity of life with teenagers--holding on, letting go.More... The Gift of an Ordinary Day is an intimate memoir of a family in transition-boys becoming teenagers, careers ending and new ones opening up, an attempt to find a deeper sense of place, and a slower pace, in a small New England town. It is a story of mid-life longings and discoveries, of lessons learned in the search for home and a new sense of purpose, and the bittersweet intensity of life with teenagers--holding on, letting go. |
If motherhood has taught me anything, it is that I cannot change my children, I can only change myself. Try as I might, I can’t shape either one of them to my desires or designs, but I can choose, moment by moment and day by day, my own reaction to who they are. So perhaps my real job now, and in the year ahead, isn’t to direct my sons’ lives, but to work on becoming more thoughtful and deliberate about my own.
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Life is not all about planning and shaping, but about not knowing, and being okay with that. It’s about learning to take the moment that comes and make the best of it, without any idea of what’s going to happen next.
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The truth is, we can’t keep our children safe, all we can do is love them, teach them as best we can, and then trust in their destinies as they embark on their own necessary journeys, out beyond the sheltered shores of childhood.
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Sometimes you need to let go of the person you think you are, in order to become the person you are meant to be.
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