It was a wonderful evening! Susan Hodaro, my memoir mentor, was all smiles when I gave her a signed copy of My Stroke in the Fast Lane: A Journey to Recovery. It was a significant victory for me because when I started her memoir class at Hudson Valley Writers Center, it was the fall after my stroke. I knew after David's wedding, I had to tell the story. But, I could hardly speak. In the workshop, fellow writers had to read their pieces, and then we'd critique it. I remember going up to Susan one day after class, so embarrassed for the strokiness of my voice.
What is the "strokiness of my voice"? I spoke s l o w l y, and the tone of my voice was so
L
O
W,
almost whispering. At some of the workshops, fellow writers were crying after some of my readings. It gave me the quiet self-confidence that I had a good story to tell and must do everything I could to tell it. Six years later, after so much hard work, emotionally and physically, I had the book to give my teacher.
Susan Hodaro is a journalist, memoirist, teacher, and co-author of Still Here Thinking of You: A Second Chance With Our Mothers (Big Table Publishing, 2013). (Bedforders, in case you missed her terrific piece in the New York Times Real Estate section, here it is: "Bedford, N.Y.: History, Horse Farms and Sprawling Estates")
I feel so blessed to have met Susan in the way beginning of my journey. I call her "my memoir mentor and teacher extraordinaire."
#My Stroke in the Fast Lane
