Friday, May 11, 2012

Diane Keaton



Enjoyed Diane Keaton's delightful memoir THEN AGAIN, culled from her mother's 85 journals, and interwoven with her personal story.  Quirky, witty, revealing, and tender.  As Diane tries to process her mother's death from Alzheimer's several years ago, she evaluates their lives as mother and daughter, and compares their chosen paths.
"At 54 Dorothy was put out to pasture with 32 more years of living staring her in the face.  At 63, I’m doing what Dorothy did when she was 24."
Fascinating.  By all accounts adopting two children in her 50s is keeping Diane active, vibrant and blissful, and provided her with most her most defining role.
“The state of being a woman in between two loves - one as a daughter, the other as a mother - has changed me.”
In the memoir, Diane wrestles with understanding the shadow of her mother's deferred dreams, and the midlife depression that plagued her.
“I’m trying, Mom, but it goes against every instinct I possess. I promise you one thing though. I promise to unleash Duke and Dexter from the stranglehold of my need before it’s too late. I promise to give them their freedom no matter how much I want them to hang on. I promise to let go of you too, the you I created for the benefit of me…

1 comment:

  1. OH BOY . . . Add it to the list. "-)

    BEAUTIFUL excerpts. THANK YOU.

    ReplyDelete