Transitional Tome

I have been reading. Gail Sheehy's The Silent Passage, Menopause, to be precise. I pulled it down from the bookshelf earlier this week. I'm not sure when I bought it, it's probably been there a number of years. Since I have it in hardcover and it came out in 1992, I'm guessing I found it on the Barnes & Noble bargain table for just a few bucks. Since I loved her 1974 landmark book, Passages, I'm guessing I thought she would have an interesting perspective on menopause that I'd enjoy reading. And I must say that I am. In the eighteen years since The Silent Passage was published, great strides have been made in the treatment for menopausal symptoms. Doctors, at least the gynocologist I have entrusted with my care, seem to be more sympathetic about helping women through this most perplexing transitional period. Just as in the book, I have found discussing and comparing symptoms and remedies with women friends of a contemporary age to be useful, even comforting. No, you are not losing your mind. Yes, this shall pass. I tried this, and it helped tremendously. An early chapter has a title that has stuck in my head, and has become something of a mantra in the last few days. There are so many applications for this phrase in so many areas of life, it's almost meditative. So, I'll leave you with Gail Sheehy's words from nearly twenty years ago. Use them.

The need to know,
and the fear of knowing.