The Gift of an Ordinary Day, Katrina Kenison
The Gift of an Ordinary Day, Katrina Kenison
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The Gift of an Ordinary Day
A Mother's Memoir

Author: Katrina Kenison

Narrator: Katrina Kenison

Unabridged: 10 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/07/2009

Synopsis

The Gift of an Ordinary Day is an intimate memoir of a family in transition, with boys becoming teenagers, careers ending and new ones opening up, and an attempt to find a deeper sense of place—and a slower pace—in a small New England town.

This is a story of mid-life longings and discoveries, of lessons learned in the search for home and a new sense of purpose, and the bittersweet intensity of life with teenagers—holding on, letting go.

Poised on the threshold between family life as she's always known it and her older son's departure for college, Kenison is surprised to find that the times she treasures most are the ordinary, unremarkable moments of everyday life, the very moments that she once took for granted, or rushed right through without noticing at all.

The relationships, hopes, and dreams that Kenison illuminates will touch women's hearts, and her words will inspire mothers everywhere as they try to make peace with the inevitable changes in store.

About Katrina Kenison

Katrina Kenison has been the annual editor of The Best American Short Stories since 1990. Along with John Updike, she edited The Best American Short Stories of the Century, a New York Times bestseller. Also the coeditor of Mothers: Twenty Stories of Contemporary Motherhood, she has written essays that have appeared in such publications as Redbook and Ladies’ Home Journal. She lives outside of Boston with her husband and their two sons.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Melissa on August 30, 2013

I didn't love this book... I felt like there were some great insights and thoughts, but I also felt that it was way too long and that she rambled a bit. She would make the same point over and over using different words or thoughts... honestly, it was like reading an insanely long blog post. There wa......more

Goodreads review by Lain on July 20, 2009

I picked up this book expecting a ho-hum collection of musings on the meaning of motherhood, the need to grab on to the present, and the desire to have just one more "ordinary" day with your offspring. What I got was so much more. In the hallowed tradition of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's "Gift from the S......more

Quotes

This eloquent book is ...about longing and fulfillment , taking stock of failures and achievements, a search for the elusive "something more" of one's existence-and a reminder that life's seemingly mundane moments are often where we find beauty, grace and transformation.—Family Circle Magazine

"Kenison writes so beautifully and clearly about what is most important in family life."—Jane Hamilton, author of A Map of the World and Laura Rider's Masterpiece

An honest, graceful book that every parent will appreciate. In the thick of challenging changes, emotional troughs, and tender realizations the reader will find comfort and guidance. Here is a fine writer, a dedicated mother, and a spiritual seeker speaking intimately to parents in search of wisdom."—Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul and Writing in the Sand

How I admire this mid-life mom, who writes with strong contemplative spirit and a heart wide open to change. Her memoir is a courageous and generous contribution to deepening American family life.—Nancy Mellon, author of Body Eloquence

"The Gift of an Ordinary Day is much more than a memoir of motherhood; it is an inspired and inspiring meditation on midlife. What Katrina Kenison gives mothers-her gift-is the promise of reinventing ourselves as our kids grow up and we grow older, and the assurance of an invitingly abundant landscape on the far side of parenthood."—Lisa Garrigues, author of Writing Motherhood

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