A Celebration of Women
is elated to Celebrate the Life of this WOMAN of ACTION, a journalist, writer and Woman of God!
This Woman has taken on one of the deepest heartfelt Topics we believe affects millions of Women around our World; that is, the relationship between Mother and Daughter. The Generation Gap has been referenced to as almost a joke for decades; yet, who has truly been courageous and honest enough to thoroughly dig deep in this challenge of a Womens’ Lives.
Celebrate the Life of this Woman with us, that has braved this danger zone, working to raise the Global Awareness of this Critical Problem in the lives of the Women of our World… Estranged Adult Children.
WOMAN of ACTION
Gail Lowe
My writing career began in the kitchen of my home when I was a stay-at-home mother — one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. In the beginning, I wrote a letter to the editor in protest of an article in his newspaper that made fun of an elderly waitress working at a five and dime lunch counter and my heart broke for her. When my letter made print, I wondered if I could expand to essay writing. I did, and another newspaper paid me for what I had to say on subjects like learning to play piano in adulthood and what it was like to lose a close friend to breast cancer.
From that point on, I was bitten by the writing bug and printer’s ink infiltrated my veins. As life often does, a few curveballs were thrown at me — one profound event was that my marriage fell apart after 20 years in 1989. Once that happened, I got my education and also got serious about writing while also helping my daughter through college. Life was tough then because after being a mother for so many years, I had to take entry level jobs to put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads.
I had to penny-pinch and shop in used clothing stores to keep the wolf from the door. In hindsight, though, each job was a rung on a ladder that would take me higher and higher. Eventually, I became a journalist and taught creative writing at colleges in the Boston area.
In 1998, another devastating event occurred — the decision of my beloved daughter to make her exit from our family. I can honestly say that I had nowhere to go for help but my knees, and from that experience PEACE (Parents of Estranged Adult Children Exchange) was born.
Gail just knew that something had to be done about the doors of relationships with children had to be unlocked somehow; and through PEACE, many parents and children can find healing…so to set themselves free, and unlock those doors of anger, resentment and pain.
Forgiveness….is One of the Keys!
This group of approximately 40 all living north of Boston brought hurting mothers and fathers together to shed tears and mourn for the children they had loved and lost. The group eventually became an online organization and for three years I wrote the “prayer page” for the group. People from all over the U.S., Great Britain, New Zealand and other locations found us and gained the strength, hope and encouragement they needed to survive.In 2007, I married my second husband, Tony. He is not only a magnificent Italian chef, he’s my sounding board, my friend and my lover. Tony convinced me to write Former Things, though I feared doing so.“What if my daughter reads it?” I asked.
And Tony said,“You’ve already lost her, Gail.
You have nothing left to lose and everything to gain.”
And so, after 16 months of writing every spare minute, I finally wrote THE END and e-mailed Former Things to my publisher.
I am not ashamed to say that my faith in God has been my driving force since the end of my first marriage. I only wish I had understood His power then and had known how in letting go, He would lead me onto paths of unimaginable wonders. Just the other night I told a visitor to our home that I was enjoying a rich and abundant life.To myself, I added silently,
“Thank you, God.”
A Celebration of Women
sends our love and support, to this Woman of Strength and Hope,
for all the Women of Estranged Adult Children.
Brava Gail!
WOMAN of ACTION – Gail Lowe
February 16, 2012 by
