Bitter drink from a tree named
to be consumed by immortals, cacao
pods as orange as pumpkins…
From “XOCOLĀTL” by Joddy Murray
Contributors: Cezarija Abaritis, Elizabeth Kert, Adam Matson, Joddy Murray, Dustin Pearson, C.C. Russell, Laura Schulkind
Let us know what you think! Tell us about your favorite piece in this issue using the comments section below.
Loved “Letting Go”! Very touching and eloquent, as well as psychologically intricate.
I loved “Letting Go” too. Beautiful. Thanks.
Elizabeth Kert’s work is very real – at once inside her head and heart and then back to the world around her. Left wanting to read more!
I appreciate your comment, Marjorie. One of my goals as a writer is to reflect both the inner and outer worlds of my characters.
I found “Letting Go” to be an excellent piece, meaningfully expressing feelings of such an intimate time of life.
I loved Elizabeth Kert’s story “Letting Go”. She did a wonderful job describing the complexity of family as they experience the end of life of a parent. It took me back to conversations with my brothers at the end of our mother’s life. Very real and tender and raw. As someone else said, I want more!
Thanks Barbara. I am glad my story resonated with you. Actually there is more! “Letting Go” is part of a completed memoir.
I loved Elizabeth’s piece “Letting Go”. The loss of a mother and the loss of all that they hold for us is spiritually profound.
Thank You Elizabeth.
Wow. Letting Go by Elizabeth Kert is so beautiful and vulnerable. I love the raw honesty she displays in processing how much her mother’s impending death is about her own process of aging/maturing/growing up and the family dynamics therein.
Yes, losing my mother was definitely painful, but losing her did bring me closer to myself in many ways. Thanks for your insight!
“Letting Go” was a poignant exploration of love and loss within our families – between siblings, parents, partners. I appreciate Elizabeth’s honesty and vulnerability. Thank you for sharing your story.
Elizabeth Kert’s piece, Letting Go, is wonderful. I immediately trusted the narrator as she so poignantly navigated the loss of her mother — such a universal experience. It left me wanting more of Kert’s work!
Thanks, Claudia, for your feedback. I’m glad you were drawn into the story. See my comment above about, “more”!
I loved “letting go” by Elizabeth Kert.
Skillful writing, honest and engaging
I finished reading this piece wanting more!
“Letting Go” Read with inhaled breathe. Touched by your voice Elizabeth Kert. Painful too. Looking forward to your memoir.
I am quite touched with Elizabeth Kert’s poignant recall
from her mother’s last moments. Anyone who has lost a loving parent will be moved and relate to her remembrance and her words in “LETTING GO”…
I appreciate Elizabeth’s sharing this memory. It is a brave thing to do.
Mili Rosenblatt
Like Milli the poignancy for me of Elizabeth’s “Letting Go” is the importance of remembrance so as to remind us all of the connections that bind lineages…of mothers to daughters and beyond to the next generation….together forever. Moms may pass on, but they are never forgotten and they serve to inspire us moving forward…ever forward. Thanks for the writing.
Thank you for “letting go” a vigorously honest piece about the complexity of motherhood and letting go of/keeping with you parts of your own mother. Grateful for your writing and inspiration.
Elizabeth Kert, Letting Go
Totally identified with your experience, Elizabeth. I fell into your category among my sibs. And others took on the same roles your sibs did. Thank you for writing so clearly about what we all go through.
I am gratified that “Letting Go” struck a range of universal chords. Yes, as Linda said, motherhood is complex. Full of gifts and challenges, I believe! I am glad my story has resonated, and I appreciate the feedback.
Letting Go by Elizabeth Kert
Letting Go by Elizabeth Kert.
Elizabeth Kert writes straight from her heart and soul. I need to read what happens next.
Finally getting to read “Letting Go” by Elizabeth Kert. Such complex feelings, conveyed in an economy of words. I hope we have the opportunity to read the rest of the memoir!