Big Mouth Recognition

I got recognized yesterday…in the gynecologist’s office.  Don’t worry, I wasn’t in the stirrups at the time.  I was innocently sitting in the hallway having blood drawn.  As a post-menopausal woman, this is commonplace for me to manage my hormones.  Yes, I went there.  It’s my female duty to speak about my hormone management as often as possible so women can know there’s help out there.  We don’t have to lose our minds during menopause.  My mother’s passing caused me to be shocked into menopause at the tender age of 37.  It’s been a roller coaster of fun hormonal management ever since.  I’m lucky enough to have the best ObGyn in the Twin Cities to help keep me in line (and my family alive for having to live with me!).

But back to my big recognition:  so I’m sitting there in the hallway and the phlebotomist (SAT word?) was talking to me about my book (yes, we’ve become friendly over the years and she has followed my adventures to becoming an author on social media) and looking at the hardback (it really is exciting!) when a nurse comes in from another room and says, “Are you the Gridley Girls author?  I recognize your voice from Lori & Julia!”.  You could have knocked me out of that chair, blood-line and all, with a feather.  I had my first radio interview on my favorite TC women’s talk radio station, MyTalk 107.1 on 4/10/13 and this woman heard it.

I could barely contain my excitement.  ”You heard me on Lori & Julia?”  As usual, I was fighting back tears.  I still can’t believe anyone wants to read about my life let alone listen to me on the radio.

“Yes I heard you.  You made me cry!  I want to buy your book so badly but I don’t want to wait until September.”

“Well, you’re in luck.  I have some right here.”  I was still sitting there with a blood draw going on so I pointed with my other hand down to the stack of books I brought in for my favorite nurses and doctor.  She ran to get her checkbook while the other nurses gathered around to hear my favorite phlebotomist sing my praises about the journey I’ve had in the last seven years, writing a book about my friends, sharing the stories of our heartbreak losing our best friend in fourth grade and how I set out to write books to keep her alive.

Yes, I cried a bit.  It’s the Joan Carlin genetic defect.  I can’t fight it.  I still try.  I’ll know I’m more of a grown up when I finally accept that it is what it is and it’s okay to cry.  It’s okay to be emotional when you see the hand of God at work.  It’s okay to be emotional when you see your dreams come true.  It’s okay to thank God for your blessings and hope maybe you can help someone else who’s lost loved ones too soon and needs to make sense of it.

My goal is to pick up where my mother left off when she passed away too soon and too suddenly.  I didn’t take the path of school teacher.  I didn’t get to mold young lives into ladies and gentlemen but if I can help by sharing my pain and joy, then hopefully I can live up to my childhood dreams and the dreams my mother had for me before she left us.

For now I can smile when I think about the fact that my big mouth got me recognized as a Gridley Girl and as an author when it used to be that all my big mouth did was get me demerits at Sycamore School.  I think Mom would smile at that.  I know I’m smiling.

Y.A.L.