In this episode, I talk with Fran Mason who lost her mother when she was 11 years old. It's interesting how different it was for her than it was for me because she was three years younger than I was when my mom died. Hearing Fran talk about going through early adolescence without her mom highlighted the difference it made to have three more years with mine. We talked about memory and how her perspective on her loss kept shifting as she was growing into adulthood. Fran is writing a book about her experience and shares how that process has helped her understand herself better. I appreciated Fran's perspective on her childhood which she developed through her writing and from rereading the journals she kept at the time. Fran's tendency toward practicality and optimism seems to have contributed to her ability to thrive despite having little emotional support while she was growing up.
You can read more about Fran and her writing on her blog and her substack.
To leave comments, please rate and review on Apple podcasts or visit me on my substack: "I'm Listening."
Special thanks to Josephine Wiggs for the intro and outro music from her album "We Fall."
It's Worth Digging Into the Past