There comes a time in each child’s life when their role begins to shift in relation to their parents. Many daughters expand their definition of mothering when caring for their own mothers, as they learn to navigate the tension of reincorporating a loved one into a new familial environment. When forced to confront the realities of motherhood in a different light, these daughters and mothers need time for introspection to engage with the expansiveness of motherhood’s demands and joys.

Beth Ann Fennelly, Poet Laureate of Mississippi, has paid careful attention to the ways the pandemic has affected her independent mother, beyond the virus itself. She joins Eddie and Chris to talk about the hard inner work we have to do to understand our relationships with our families, the ways that generations of parents relate to one another, the disciplines that help us engage with our deep questions and doubts, and what parenting teaches us about being human.

Resources

Follow Beth Ann Fennelly on the web:

https://www.bethannfennelly.com

Check out Beth Ann’s books here:

https://www.bethannfennelly.com/books

Read Beth Ann’s article in the Washington Post here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/pandemic-isolation-and-the-elderly/2020/12/11/91669cea-33e7-11eb-a997-1f4c53d2a747_story.html

Read A Quiet Incarnation, a piece Beth Ann wrote about her mother-in-law, here:

https://magazine.nd.edu/stories/a-quiet-incarnation/

Episode 153: We Need Humanism