The Middle Place: A Memoir - Kelly Corrigan

(TO ALL - have been preoccupied with other matters…will attempt to catch up ASAP.)

For author Kelly Corrigan, The Middle Place is “...that sliver of time when parenthood and childhood overlap.” When she is diagnosed with breast cancer, the child within her reaches out to home, to her parents.

As she states in the prologue: “And that’s what this whole thing is about. Calling home. Instinctively. Being grown up enough to move across the country, meet a man, have kids…when, truth be told, you still feel more like somebody’s daughter.”

And, yes, I gravitated to yet another book about family, love and loss but this book is written with such grace and humour that it doesn’t make you sad. Aware and appreciative of everything you have, yes. Moved by Kelly’s journey, yes. But not sad or despondent. In fact, there are many laugh out loud moments. Kelly Corrigan is one brave, funny lady.

As she battles and copes with the disease, she also takes us back to her childhood – the defining moments of that past life. She is unabashed in her love and devotion to her parents and siblings and is particularly close to her father.

“He defined me first, as parents do. Those early characterizations that can become the shimmering self-image we take to heart or the limited, stifling perception we rail against for a lifetime.”

This is a story of love, of courage, of tremendous spirit and of growing up and letting go (just a little) of those ties that bind to the family we begin our lives with. The family we go on to create ourselves must then take priority in our lives.

Do click on the link to watch this video – it will give you a glimpse of Kelly Corrigan, her family and the marvelous story she has tell.

Thank you, Ms. Corrigan, for sharing. It was a pleasure and an honour.