RAISING YOUR OWN THROUGH THICK OR THIN

"Countless individuals beset by trauma report that
their basic problem is an existence that is without
meaning" Julius Segal


Our nomadic lifestyle has given us the opportunity to witness the "snowbird",
that growing group of grandmothers and grandfathers who travel in their expensive motorhomes, leaving children and grandchildren behind.

A common bumper sticker on these fancy rigs reads,

I'M SPENDING MY CHILDREN'S INHERITANCE

My own growing intergenerational family, happily cramped into our old camper would stare at those bumper stickers in disbelief. We could not even fatham the idea of driving away from let alone taking money away from our loved ones.

While pregnant with my first child, I raised enough money to buy a small travel trailer and old truck with which to pull it. I cleaned restrooms at a state campground in trade for my camping spot where I met a woman who tattooed forevermore the destiny of my maternal soul.

She was walking her fluffy white poodle when our paths crossed. She asked about my pregnancy and then sadness sudenly filled within her and she started to weep. I gave her a hug and asked what was wrong. I'll always remember what she said...

She said for me not to make the same mistake she had made. Decades before, she had bought into the American dream putting her career ahead of her children. Now, twenty five years later she was supposed to be reaping the rewards of that long endurance ride to retirement. Instead of feeling rewarded she felt ripped off. The only thing that remained of her entire mothering experience were pictures of her grandkids she barely knew hanging on her motorhome wall.

She told me that if she had it to do all over again, she would have bought a motorhome instead of the big house, and she would have shared traveling with her children. She would have taken her personal talents seriously and been everything she always wanted to be including the woman who raised her own children instead of farming them out to daycare and the public school system.

She asked me to please stay true to my vision of family nomadism and assurred me that, in hindsight, the poorest of times would prove to be the richest in memories.

The she walked away with her poodle, the closest thing she had to a grandchild, in the direction of her fancy motorhome devoid of maternal joy.

True wealth has nothing to do with money. All the riches in the world can still make you the poorest soul on earth. My book WEALTH IS THE ANSWER is my promise to that woman, as it contains all the rich memories of every poor moment my family has known. May our experience, strength, and hope show you the way to stay true to your maternal soul...your upcoming grandkids will be most grateful!
Love,
Hygeia

WEALTH IS THE ANSWER
on-line reading at
http://sites.google.com/site/primalmothering/