≡ Descargar Free Off Kilter A Woman Journey to Peace with Scoliosis Her Mother and Her Polish Heritage Linda C Wisniewski 9781597190121 Books

Off Kilter A Woman Journey to Peace with Scoliosis Her Mother and Her Polish Heritage Linda C Wisniewski 9781597190121 Books

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Off Kilter A Woman Journey to Peace with Scoliosis Her Mother and Her Polish Heritage Linda C Wisniewski 9781597190121 Books

Such a delightful read. It seems like an oxymoron saying that about a memoir portraying such a difficult childhood, but it's true. I am Slovak American on my father's side, so I can relate to a lot of the author's Polish American heritage and upbringing. My mother, though of Dutch, English, and German ancestry, turned totally Slovak in her ways upon marrying my father. The cooking, the housekeeping, the always having to look our best, having it ingrained into our psyches to be suspicious of others, all of it, even down to the superstition of a bird flying into the house being a sign of pending death. I carry semblances of some of those fears to this day. But, I, like the author of Off Kilter, rebelled. I was open and accepting of everyone, trusted everyone. At one point Linda Wisniewski comments that this book is not about her mother, and yet, her mother is there everywhere, like most mothers, good or bad, in our hearts and in our faces, sometimes too close and sometimes too far away. I believe her mom was a product of her times and her circumstances. I believe the author grew to be the open and loving, optimistic woman she is today because of the lessons she learned as a child, even it is to go the opposite way. And I love the reconciliation at the end. The mother in her heart, is the mother she will have forever. Love comes in all forms. The author's honesty is to be commended. She gave her mother a voice!


Tags : Off Kilter: A Woman's Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, and Her Polish Heritage [Linda C. Wisniewski] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Life is a journey we all take, making changes along the way. Linda Wisniewski's memoir takes the reader along as she examines and keeps what feeds her soul and discards the rest. When she finally comes to terms with her Polish Catholic heritage,Linda C. Wisniewski,Off Kilter: A Woman's Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, and Her Polish Heritage,Pearlsong Press,1597190128,Adult children of aging parents - United States,Amsterdam (N.Y.),Caregivers - United States,Catholics, Polish - New York (State) - Amsterdam,Mothers and daughters - United States,Mothers and daughters;United States;Biography.,Polish Americans - New York (State) - Amsterdam,Psychological abuse - United States,Psychological abuse;United States;Case studies.,Scoliosis - Patients,Scoliosis;Patients;Biography.,Wisniewski, Linda C.,Wisniewski, Linda C. - Family,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Personal Memoirs,BODY, MIND & SPIRIT Inspiration & Personal Growth,Biography,Biography & Autobiography,Biography & AutobiographyPersonal Memoirs,Biography Autobiography,BiographyAutobiography,Biography: general,Case studies,Coping with illness,Mothers and daughters,Patients,Personal Memoirs,Psychological abuse,Scoliosis,United States

Off Kilter A Woman Journey to Peace with Scoliosis Her Mother and Her Polish Heritage Linda C Wisniewski 9781597190121 Books Reviews

A real downer. Feels like reading notes from a therapy session. This is one bitter woman! Sad. (I have depression-era parents and scoliosis too. Life is what you make of it. Stop blaming your parents. Good grief.)
I could relate because I was born and raised in Amsterdam, NY - same as author. And I was born to a Polish mom and Italian dad unlike author who was born to parents who were both Polish. Author is a wee bit younger than I, but all the streets, stores and places she mentioned were all familiar to me.
What I most admire about Linda Wisniewski's memoir is that she understands the process of healing from past wounds is a multi-faceted experience. In her book both emotional and physical pain are present in the process of healing, joy in the midst of pain, and small and large grievances in the midst of heart-felt, long lasting commitments to family members who do not always treat each other well. Wisniewski's portrait of her relationship with her mother is compassionate and honest and portrays the turbulence of family love in all the richness and complexity of an actual--rather than an idealized--life. Her memoir both embraces and critiques the pressures that identities based on gender, class and ethnic heritage bring to bear on the life of a third-generation Polish-American woman reared in the early 1960s in a working-class, upstate New York town. In a very different context, in the words of James Merrill, Wisniewski discovers in her fine book that in the marathon of a life-long commitment to her mother she is "masked, as who is not, in laughter, pain and love."
Many of the instances really rang true, but it became obvious as the reading became repetitious that this was a series of articles published separately. I had difficulty " feeling" the abuse from the father or the poor relationship with her mother. At one point the author says her mother made the comment that the author was not like her. Did the author ever think that perhaps this was compliment from the mother?
Loved it. Fantastic read. I'm almost finished with it right now and am writing down some of her phrases that describe how women are oppressed, ie, "she let herself be silenced." It takes a special writer to tell a story through the eyes of a child. Not too many writers do it well. I admire the woman. Yes, the book is intense, but if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Women and children (and men in some cases, of course) did not speak up for themselves in the 50's, especially with abusive husbands. Many women still don't speak up for themselves. There are some great moments of humor in the story. Wisniewski has a clear writing style and especially keen way of telling it like it is. I think the book will become an important sociological and psychological study as the years go by.
Memoirs are all too often written as black and white accounts of a perfect childhood with saintly parents. In Off Kilter, Wisniewski uses multiple shades of gray to portray a confusing childhood with emotionally distant parents. She does this with compassion and the realization that her imperfect parents are the result of their own confusing childhoods. Moments of hurt feelings and loneliness are balanced with moments of discovery, such as a small child seeing sunlight as butter. The writing style perfectly suits the story - spare, uncluttered prose, clear as a pane of freshly-cleaned glass. What I liked most about the book is the sense is that the child who tried so hard to understand her parents became a woman who will never be satisfied with easy answers, but one who is striving to understand not only who she is, but who she hopes to become. I highly recommend this book.
Such a delightful read. It seems like an oxymoron saying that about a memoir portraying such a difficult childhood, but it's true. I am Slovak American on my father's side, so I can relate to a lot of the author's Polish American heritage and upbringing. My mother, though of Dutch, English, and German ancestry, turned totally Slovak in her ways upon marrying my father. The cooking, the housekeeping, the always having to look our best, having it ingrained into our psyches to be suspicious of others, all of it, even down to the superstition of a bird flying into the house being a sign of pending death. I carry semblances of some of those fears to this day. But, I, like the author of Off Kilter, rebelled. I was open and accepting of everyone, trusted everyone. At one point Linda Wisniewski comments that this book is not about her mother, and yet, her mother is there everywhere, like most mothers, good or bad, in our hearts and in our faces, sometimes too close and sometimes too far away. I believe her mom was a product of her times and her circumstances. I believe the author grew to be the open and loving, optimistic woman she is today because of the lessons she learned as a child, even it is to go the opposite way. And I love the reconciliation at the end. The mother in her heart, is the mother she will have forever. Love comes in all forms. The author's honesty is to be commended. She gave her mother a voice!