About my sisters
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On the heels of her poignant and critically acclaimed memoirs, Waiting and Raising Blaze, Debra Ginsberg explores the unique connection she shares with her three sisters.In About My Sisters, Ginsberg examines the special bond she shares with her three sisters, May, Lavander and Deja. As her hippie parents criss-crossed the globe, Debra, the oldest of five children, formed indelible bonds with her three sisters that last to this day. Separated by fifteen years among them, Debra and her sisters represent two different generations, each one of them having something to teach the other. Debra and Maya (the next oldest) became not only babysitters, but also playmates, problem solvers, teachers and surrogate mothers to the youngest two. And the shared experience of being the children of an unconventional, dope-smoking, non-career oriented, nomadic couple bonded them even more. Structured around the course of one year, About My Sisters examines these bonds through the prism of the events of that year, revealing not only a "different" family, but also a unique and amazing relationship that has weathered many storms but never foundered. The four sisters (as well as their parents and brother) still live within ten miles of one another and share meals, holidays, joys, pains, and babysitting duties with an astounding frequency. This is a heart-warming, funny, and poignant look at a family that's much like the one we all wish we had...
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“No one will ever love you like your
family!” my mother would scream at me,
when I was a little girl, and, secretly,
I'd think, How ridiculous. Now, at 47,
I know the truth of her words and would
add, as a cautionary note, “...and no
one will ever drive you as nuts as
your family.”
Ginsberg, then, takes on a big subject
in About My Sisters: family relationships.
Despite the title, she actually looks at
the complex world of both her family of
origin (the sisters of the title, a
brother, a mom and dad) as well as her
extended family (her son, along with
various boyfriends and girlfriends of
family members).
It's in the very ordinariness of the family
that the book derives its strength; by
the description of the family's day-to-day
feuds and fusses, as well as the family's
ongoing support and caring, Ginsberg reveals
the power of the family in our lives.
A reader of About My Sisters will nod as she
reads, recognizing, in the pages, her own
family chaos, her own family cohesion,
whirling and spinning,
expanding and contracting,
like the universe,
like life itself.
