Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks to My Mom

I am so excited to announce that I’ve been published in a book – my first time as a published author!

The book is Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks to My Mom. For those unfamiliar with the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, each book is a compilation of personal essays from 101 writers about a particular topic. In this book, we are all paying tribute to our amazing moms

My essay,  "The Perfect Prom Dress,“ relates the experience of my mom taking me prom dress shopping only a few weeks after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and told she had two months to live. At 17 years old, doodling dresses during class and in denial about my mom’s illness, I resent the too-early shopping trip and the gown that replaces the dress of my dreams. It’s only while shopping for my wedding dress a decade later do I truly understand my mom’s sacrifice: that despite her illness, she made something as minuscule and monumental as a prom dress into a revered mother-daughter rite of passage.

The essay is adapted from a chapter of Sally’s Circle, the memoir that my mom and I wrote together while she was sick. I am so happy to have published even a small part of our book. (I’m still working towards publishing our full book!)

I know my mom would be especially happy about this publication because she’s the one who bought me my first Chicken Soup book–Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul–when it came out in the late ‘90s. We both loved it, though to me the authors seemed like mini-celebrities. I never dreamed I’d be writing among them, and I can’t help but think Mom pulled a string or two up there, wherever she may be…

If you’d like to buy a copy, please get in touch. I’m selling books for $10 and donating all the proceeds to the incredible Lustgarten Foundation for pancreatic cancer research. I am always in hope for a cure, for all the amazing moms out there.