Book Review: The Gift of an Ordinary Day

I first ran across the seven minute video someone posted on Facebook highlighting Katrina Kenison reading bits from this book to a room full of women.  It was poetic and beautifully moving.  Thus, when I saw the book on audio, I snatched it up at the library.  I was certainly not disappointed.  The book, like the circulating video, was just as poetic and moving.  It seemed like every word was crafted with precision to pack the most powerful punch.  I could relate to much of this author's story (the shift to having a teenager, the shift in moving to a house in the country and questioning whether it was the best decision, the shift in going from a working life to a life at home, writing).  I revelled in her expert storytelling and found myself coming away with nuggets of wisdom I had to write down.

As the back cover proclaims, "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 midlife 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."  All I can add is that the book was moving and inspirational.

Here are a few of the nuggets I wrote down: from theologian Howard Thurman - "Don't ask yourself what the world needs.  Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."  From Maryanne Williamson - "The difficulty of the journey sometimes turns out to be its blessing."  From the author - "Trust that what is meant to be, will be."

Moreover, I could fully relate to her worries about friendship in a small, rural town.  She writes, "I've often wondered if I'd find deep, enduring friendship in this small, close-knit country town, where it seems that everyone already knows everyone else, bound by common memories and a local history that I was not a part of and can never hope to absorb.  I've worried that I might be too late ... that no new mid-life connections could begin to match the intimacy of our old suburban neighborhood or the passion and urgency my friends and I once shared in the daily struggles of motherhood."  The author did find a friend.  For me, I am still in the wondering and worrying stage.

If you are looking for a stirring memoir about the transitions of life and approaching the empty nest, you couldn't go wrong with this book.  It was an absolute pleasure to listen to and learn from.