Finding Ruth
As fiercely independent Ruth struggles to stay self-reliant at the age of 86, each day brings her closer to an event that will alter her life forever. While her author daughter shifts through Ruth’s possessions prior to her move into a skilled nursing facility, she discovers a previously unseen photo from 1949 and realizes how little she knows about her mother’s life during the good times, memories she never shared with her children..
As Alzheimer’s continues to warp Ruth’s once sharp mind, she can no longer shed any light on the past. Yearning to know who her mother was as a person in her own right, the author painstakingly reconstructs Ruth’s life from photos, letters, public records and firsthand memories.
What emerges is a portrait of a bright, beautiful woman who is propelled through decades of broken promises and heartache, bouncing from one ill-fated relationship to the next, but always staying strong, always surviving. Through a timeline going back sixty years, the author gleans a much better understanding of the woman she had known only as Mom.
“A beautifully written story of a soul’s journey!”
"SOUL-BEARING AND HEART-WARMING."
“A very moving a heartfelt story”
Reviews
“I really enjoyed reading this book. I think it’s a remarkable account of the life of a woman who definitely had a story to tell. This book will resonate with a wide variety of readers including readers of human interest stories, readers caring for aging parents as well as with readers dealing with some of the same issues of family drama.” ★★★★★
“This book is an biography of the writer’s mother. The relationship early on was stormy and sometimes even hate-filled, The Writer very much keeps an even hand and tells the story from her mother’s point of view. It is a tragedy. The mother’s life was filled with many trials and difficulties that made her bitter and angry, and the daughter was the recipient of much of this bitterness. Even so the daughter keeps an even hand and tells the story with love and respect for the mother. Sadly the story ends in Alzheimer’s, but in this case Alzheimer’s is a blessing. Without her bitterness the mother is able to express pure love to her family unlike anything she ever did during their childhood. The story is interesting and engaging throughout. It is a tribute to the mother and to the author.” ★★★★★
“I adored my mother, who was also a most beautiful woman, and I have written about her in fiction, but I seriously doubt that I could ever attempt to write something as candid as this, so close to the bone. This is a most admirable work, and I look forward to reading more of Cynthia Hamilton’s writing.” ★★★★★
The Story Behind Finding Ruth
I took a tragedy for me to discover my mother’s past, more specifically, the part of her life before my siblings and I came along, the period when she was thriving and full of optimism. The photo I chose for the cover of her story tells it all: a beautiful, confident young woman with so much promise, hamming it up for her first husband, not a care in the world.
Though I had been doing what I could to care for our mom, my siblings and I saw signs that her mental state was rapidly declining. I hired a part-time caregiver to help her with meals and bathing as a stopgap measure while we tried to find a skilled nursing facility that specialized in the treatment of Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, tragedy struck before we met on my mother’s front porch.
It was while going through her belongings after she was hospitalized that I discovered the beautiful photograph of her that graces the cover of the book. It was then that I realized there was so much about her life prior to marrying our father that she never shared with us. The boxes of photos I found under her bed had many stories to tell, and piece by piece I was able to chronical the trajectory of her life.
If there is a message in Ruth’s story, it’s to ask the people you care about to share their stories while you have the opportunity.
Cynthia
