(excerpt from) The Improbable Adventures of a Middle-Aged Woman

Adventures POD cover needs spine width

Let me state for the record that all of the things I have done in life made sense at the time. I have never once thought, “Well, this will be an expensive, foolish, and ultimately useless endeavor. Where do I sign up?” No, I always think it is absolutely the right course of action under the circumstances.

Graduate school: Where else do you go when you keep getting fired from jobs?
Martial arts: Obviously I was trying to quit smoking.
Marriage: A transparent ploy to get my parents off my back.

When my daughter was born with oh let’s call it special needs, it was not unlike a nuclear bomb going off in the middle of my life. At that point in time my idea of a challenge was a hotel without room service.

When the neurology resident said, “Your daughter’s brain is massively deformed,” I wasn’t thinking serious thoughts like, What is the prognosis? and What are the best treatment options? I was thinking WTF? WTF? not unlike a squirrel running up and down an oak tree.

Now an adult, Jessica moves slowly and carefully but loves to dance. She has a serious cognitive impairment but enjoys philosophical debates about abstract concepts like truth and justice. She has a significant visual impairment and needs help navigating unfamiliar terrain but is an inspired glass artist.

Over the years, I learned how to be the kind of woman who could raise this child. But that is not today’s story. Today’s story is about what happened after that, when all the dramatic action paused for a moment and I took a breath, and thought about me. At first it went like this: me me me me me glorious me! Then I began having deeper thoughts, which is a course of action I cannot in good conscience recommend to other people. Introspection is a dangerous activity when not handled correctly. Proceed at your own risk.

from The Improbable Adventures of a Middle-Aged Woman