Without my mother : a daughter's search for the mother who abandoned her

How Do You Forgive a Parent Who Has Failed You? One summer, Melissa Cistaro's mother stepped into her baby-blue Dodge Dart and drove away, leaving behind Melissa and her brothers. Rarely seeing their mother as they were growing up, they blamed themselves for her leaving, turning to each other for support and seeking out often destructive ways to cope with living without their mom. Decades later, with children of her own, Melissa finds herself in Olympia, Washington, as her mother is dying. She has just days to find out what happened that summer and to confront the unthinkable fear that a "leaving gene" might be lying dormant inside of her. She knew she came from a long line of mothers who left their children. But when Melissa stumbles across a folder titled "Letters Never Sent" tucked away in her mother's filing cabinet, she begins to feel the wreckage of her mother's painful journey, before and after she abandoned her family. Alternating between Melissa's tumultuous coming-of-age and her mother's final days, Without My Mother is a haunting yet ultimately uplifting story of one woman's quest to discover how our parents' choices impact our own and how we can survive those choices to forge our own paths. "One summer, Melissa Cistaro's mother stepped into her baby-blue Dodge Dart and drove away, leaving behind Melissa and her brothers. Rarely seeing their mother as they were growing up, they blamed themselves for her leaving, turning to each other for support and seeking out often destructive ways to cope with living without their mom. Decades later, with children of her own, Melissa finds herself in Olympia, Washington, as her mother is dying. She has just days to find out what happened that summer and to confront the unthinkable fear that a "leaving gene" might be lying dormant inside of her. She knew she came from a long line of mothers who left their children. But when Melissa stumbles across a folder titled "Letters Never Sent" tucked away in her mother's filing cabinet, she begins to feel the wreckage of her mother's painful journey, before and after she abandoned her family. Alternating between Melissa's tumultuous coming-of-age and her mother's final days, Without My Mother is a haunting yet ultimately uplifting story of one woman's quest to discover how our parents' choices impact our own and how we can survive those choices to forge our own paths."-- Publisher's website This Provocative, Poignant Memoir Of A Daughter Whose Mother Left Her Behind By Choice Begs The Question: Are We Destined To Make The Same Mistakes As Our Parents? One Summer, Melissa Cistaro’s Mother Drove Off Without A Word. Devastated, Melissa And Her Brothers Were Left To Pick Up The Pieces, Wondering Why Their Mother Abandoned Them. Decades Later, Melissa Finds Herself In Olympia, Washington, With Her Dying Mother And Just Days To Find Out What Happened That Summer And Confront The Fear That She Could Do The Same To Her Kids. She Never Expects To Stumble On A Cache Of Letters Her Mother Wrote But Never Sent Her, Which Could Hold The Answers She Seeks. Haunting Yet Ultimately Uplifting, Without My Mother Chronicles One Woman’s Quest To Discover What Drives A Mother To Walk Away From The Children She Loves. Alternating Between Melissa’s Tumultuous Coming-of-age And Her Mother’s Final Days, This Captivating Memoir Reveals How Our Parents’ Choices Impact Our Own And How We Can Survive Those To Forge Our Own Paths. "Why would a mother ever abandon her child? And is an abandoned child destined to grow up and make the same mistake? These were some of Melissa Cistaro's questions after her mother drove off without explanation one summer. Decades later Melissa finds herself at her dying mother's bedside with 6 days to find answers, fearful that she could do the same to her own little girl. Then she discovers a cache of letters her mother wrote but never sent and stumbles on the answers she'd been seeking. Haunting yet ultimately uplifting, Pieces of My Mother is about the choices we make and their repercussions on others"--Provided by publisher