Remembering Mom

by Ellen Gable

In Remembering Mom, author Ellen Gable shares memories of her beloved mother, an unconventional woman who was often thrust into situations by necessity. She endured having to watch her first husband spiral into psychosis and schizophrenia, then have him be committed to a psychiatric hospital on the same day she was in labor with their fourth child. She worked from home typing back in the day when women didn’t have jobs other than homemaking. Her humor was quirky, and she had some strange sayings. She could swear like a sailor, but loved her Catholic faith. She wasn’t a perfect Catholic, nor was she a perfect mother, but she was devoted to her five children. After the death of her first husband, she remained strong for her young adult children, then eventually found love again and another opportunity for motherhood.

152 pages, Paperback

Published May 18, 2020

About the author

Ellen Gable (Hrkach) is an award-winning, bestselling author of thirteen books, contributor to numerous others, ghostwriter of five books, and publisher/editor of 60 other books. Her newest book, Life From the Bottom Shelf, is a humorous look at being short. Her novel, Where Angels Pass, was #1 in New Releases on Amazon.ca. for two days and won first place in Religious Fiction in the 2022 CMA Book Awards. Four of her other books have also won literary awards. She and her husband, James Hrkach, are the parents of five adult sons, three beautiful daughters-in-law, and grandparents to four precious and entertaining grandchildren. Her books are available in several languages and on Audible. When not writing, Ellen enjoys watching classic movies, reading, researching her family tree, and playing board games with her family.

Reviews

[Amanda Lauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy reading a good biography and Gable does a nice job painting a picture of her late mother. She sounds like she was quite the woman. Gable presented a well-rounded picture of her mother, pointing out her flaws and quirks along with her endearing qualities. While people who know Gable or her family would relate most to this story, it's a quick read and makes a person realize that we should learn as much about our parents and their backgrounds, growing up years and lives in general as we can while we still have them or their stories will be lost forever.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 2 out of 5]

🔻 Genre: Memoire-biography.
👁 Point of view: First person.
🖊 My review: Some parts of this memoire were interesting with clean snippets of the author’s family life, and some things that really should have been left unsaid; much was too graphic for me to read as a practicing Roman Catholic.
🔥 Dénouement: I did not get that far.

🔲 Excerpts :

🔸 . . . my stepfather and my father were first-cousins, she’s actually my three-quarters sister because we share three-quarters of our family tree.

🔸 [Mother] didn’t have a college degree, but she was one of the smartest people I’ve ever known.

🔸 Mom almost never closed the bathroom door when she had to go to the toilet. The reason I remember that so distinctly is because it was there, while she sat on the toilet, that she told me “the facts of life.” I had just turned eleven years old . . .

Am I led to believe hotels in Montreal didn’t have telephones?

🔸 On my way home, I missed a connecting flight, and the airline put me up in a beautiful Montreal hotel. Back in those days, there were no cell phones, so I couldn’t call Mom to tell her that I wouldn’t be on the flight.

How about when Mom was in the hospital with kidney problems?

🔸 Mom hadn’t slept alone in twenty-three years, except for the times when Dad was in Ancora.

🖋 The writing style: Casual, yet inconsistent.
🗝 What I learned: Many stories are best left within the family.
💫 What I like best: Cannot think of anything here, but thanks for asking.
📌 Would I read this again? No, yet other readers might enjoy this memoire. It was not for me.
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟½
◼️ Fun fact: Our Creator is good.
🏮Media form: Kindle Unlimited version.

[Toni Ladd · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful memoir!