Reading The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio—How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less took me back to my own childhood. There were differences, of course. There were only five of us, mom didn't win any contests and we were raised Lutheran, not Catholic. But there were also similarities: we didn't have much money, our family had challenges that weren't talked about at the time (though ours came in the form of emotional breakdowns rather than alcoholism) and we had remarkable moms whose goodness and indomitable spirits seemed to transcend just about anything. I was amazed at the author's recollection of events until I thought about those nine siblings—what a wealth of information. And at the end of the book, the author reveals that her mother kept good records of all her contest entries, along with family memorabilia and news clippings...
RSS Feed
