Mothering Mother

• “O’Dell knows this emotional journey well.” —Melissa Long, CNN
• “Carol O’Dell is my new hero ... Told in vignettes instead of a linear fashion, O’Dell tells in brutal honesty the horrors and pleasures of exactly what one shoulders when saying, ‘Come live with us; I’ll take care of you.’” —Casa Publishing
• “Beautiful, told with humor...and much love.”—Booklist
• “Mothering Mother documents the daily love, doubts, ambivalence, guilt, grief, and small triumphs that accompany Carol on her almost three-year journey. Those of us in the Baby-boomer generation will resonate with the emotional roller coaster that many of us have or are currently experiencing, or fear having to face with our own aging parents. Mothering Mother is a gauge by which we can measure the strength of our own inner resources as we search for the best option in caring for our elders in their last years.”
  —Barry Baines, Hospice Director for the Twin Cities
• So many of the experiences she [Carol] and her mother shared in Mothering Mother reflect the caregiving and role reversals and were so real, I had flashbacks. I laughed, I smiled and shuddered reading this book. Her approach, sense of humor and ability to tell the whole truth will make you love it too. O’Dell has captured the essence of every Baby Boomer’s struggle to parent our parents.”
  —Judy H. Wright, Missoula Demonstration Project, Author of over 20 books

Mothering Mother

A Daughter's Humorous and Heartbreaking Memoir
Carol D. O'Dell 

LOGLINE

An authentic in-the-room view of a daughter's struggle to care for an aging parent with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, told with humor and heart-breaking frankness. 

SYNOPSIS
"Yes Mother, we all want you."

This theme recurs throughout Carol D. O'Dell's bitingly humorous and unflinchingly honest memoir. Carol's mother has Parkinson's Disease and a heart condition and Carol's decision not to put her mother "in one of those homes" has far-reaching consequences for her family. She must learn to Mother her own mother. This refreshing and entertaining memoir will help baby boomers struggling with their own decisions on elder care in the home.

Mothering Mother touches on what our relationships do to us, how they impact our souls, our beliefs—beliefs about ourselves, about life and the quality of life, about faith and hope and finally, about death.

Mothering Mother is an authentic and "in-the-room" view of a daughter's struggle to care for an aging parent. It will touch you and never leave you. You will be astonished at Carol's brutal honesty. Her ability to narrate the feelings of the moment—love, grief, humor and even those moments of bitter resentment—will both reassure and arm you for the day when you may face a similar choice. Find out why, so many say, "I loved this book!"

LINKS

Magazine and Newspaper Reviews

Mothering Mother's Touching Animated Book Trailer

Meet the Author—Chat–Email–Pictures–Events–News–Reviews 

“I loved this book! I not only loved it, I lived it. I laughed, I smiled and shuddered reading this book. Her approach, sense of humor and ability to tell the whole truth will make you love it too. O’Dell has captured the essence of every Baby Boomer’s struggle to parent our parents.”
Judy H. Wright, author of over 20 books

“Mothering Mother provides an authentic and ‘in-the-room’ view of a daughter’s struggle to care for an aging parent with a progressing life—limiting illness. Those of us in the Baby-boomer generation will resonate with the emotional roller coaster that many of us have or are currently experiencing, or fear having to face with our own aging parents.”
Barry K. Baines, MD., author of Ethical Wills: Putting your Values on Paper, Perseus Publishing, 2002

“As members of the much talked about “baby-boomer” generation, we all have one thing in common...parents who are aging. It is basically, our turn. It is parenting in reverse. And, in her book Mothering Mother, Carol O’Dell has captured the essence of our struggle, our delight, and the many lessons learned in caring for her aged mother, that in the end it is worth it.”
Dr. Leslie L. Daniels, Graduate Program Coordinator, Criminal Justice Program, Florida Metropolitan University

IN USA: $ 19.95 

NEW Canadian Pricing! $21.95*

*New pricing – please give retailers in Canada time to adjust their pricing. 

Carol D. O’Dell

Carol D. O'Dell teaches creative writing to children and adults and is published in Chicken Soup Celebrates Sisters, Atlanta Magazine, Storyteller Magazine, and numerous other prestigious publications.

Carol brought her eighty-nine year old adoptive mother, suffering from Parkinson's and heart disease, into her home with two children and husband. She opens her entire life with brutal honesty in Mothering Mother.

Carol lives with her family in Jacksonville, Florida and teaches writing skills for the Florida Governor's Honors Program. She is a member of AWP, National Women's Writers and serves on the board of the First Coast Writer's Festival.

Download a PDF of Our Kunati Spring 2007 Catalog