"Would you do it again… would you give Maya the letter?"
Some who know what happened have asked that question, as if I could actually turn back time. Would I give her the letter, knowing it would push away the person who’d been my comfort through my dad’s alcoholism and parents’ divorce? Knowing that it would destroy a friendship I’d worked years to build, and that I’d have to endure lies and unkindness from someone I believed in more than any other?
…knowing that the fallout would inspire me to attend my dream college; knowing I'd conquer homesickness and so many other fears there; knowing I'd make friends who'd become like family; knowing I'd find rewards I could have never imagined?
"And Then it Rained: Lessons for Life" is the story of how I lost my most trusted confidant… and found myself.
Some may call me a writer, an author perhaps. Yet my 80,000-word memoir, And Then It Rained: Lessons for Life, exists first and foremost because I am a dreamer.
I graduated college with degrees in Business Administration/Marketing, and Psychology, and work as a project director at a large technology organization. I enjoy my work, and love that it's allowed me to travel to many different parts of the country and overseas. But my ambitions reach well beyond my day job.
My mission is about helping kids follow their dreams, and my memoir is about showing them how. I find inspiration in any circumstance, using good times as reinforcement, and bad times as a catalyst for new and more fulfilling opportunities. A famous quote states: "Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain."
I've seen a lot of rain… and I've done a lot of dancing.
A young Megan is inspired by the life and friendship of her idol, Maya. In an attempt to share with Maya what that relationship has meant to her, she composes a long letter that chronicles her feelings and experiences. The letter, rather than helping to heal Maya, pushes her away. This memoir is about one girl's journey to find the hero in herself when the hero she idolizes turns on her. It's about how one girl survives her dad's alcoholism and her parents' divorce; how she conquers her homesickness and thrives in college; how she comes to know herself.
I'm not a big fan of memoirs, but this book is so well-written it's like reading fiction. Megan and I had very different paths in life, so her choices and experiences were not familiar roads for me, making her journey all the more interesting to read. This book, without being preachy, is inspiring, motivational and useful for anyone. While she and I have lived such different lives, her engaging prose and openness of heart made it easy to relate to the core human struggles of fear, loneliness and loss of hope... and to rejoice with her as those were replaced by bravery, camaraderie and excitement about life.
I found this book to be interesting enough and enjoyed the closeness of Megan's extended family. I was certain this book was going to evolve into a story about mental health with Maya being the main subject. Although I would have enjoyed the aforementioned, I enjoyed instead, Megan coming to terms with a difficult "friendship" through experience and maturity.