In my case, one thing I am giving a lot of thought to right now is the impact on me of having grown up with a severely handicapped sister. I am reading a book called The Normal One
which explores this topic. The New York Times calls it a "persuasive examination of the considerable effect that...impaired brothers and sisters have upon their 'normal' siblings throughout life."This sentence in the book jumped out at me: "They (siblings of special needs children) bear an inner weight of unarticulated sorrow at having missed much of the freedom and insouciance of childhood that others take for granted." I do think I am carrying around a lot of "stuff" related to my unique childhood and having to be mature and responsible preternaturally early.
If you have what this book calls "a difficult or damaged sibling" it would be well worth examining how that has affected you.
I also have on order Being the Other One: Growing Up with A Brother or Sister who has Special Needs
-- this one looks good too.It's time to deal with all the emotional stuff I've got buried in my belly!
2 comments:
another book about 'the dark' is by author miriam greenspan called "healing through the dark emotions:the wisdom of grief,fear and despair. she's a great writer and has lived through the dark...which is really what her book is about, living through it and finding the jewels.
thanks for blogging and healing!
rivercane roundbelli
thanks so much -- that does indeed sound like an excellent book!
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