A Week of Celebrations

It's an important week for honouring women in our community! This month (May) is International Doula Month. As well, May 5th was the International Day of the Midwife, and today is Mother's Day!

So for all the women out there doing wonderful work and/or mothering, I raise a glass to you!

A beautiful photo of Mrs. Trudeau

On the topic of wonderful women, I have been engrossed in a book all weekend - Margaret Trudeau's Changing My Mind. I don't normally like reading memoirs, as I find them poorly written, but this one had me hooked due to the subject matter. As much as I like to think that I'm well educated, I had no idea that Margaret suffered from bipolar and was the ridicule of the Canadian media during her stint as our First Lady. I think the only thing I remember about her was the fact that she was almost 30 years younger than Pierre!

It's certainly not a literary jem, but the stories she tells are enough to keep you reading, for their inside look at political life in the 70s and 80s. But more importantly, it's the honesty in her telling of events related to her biopolar illness that makes the book so interesting.

There is certainly stigma associated with mental illness, but not to the degree that there was in the 1970s. I can only imagine what it might have been like to suffer through depression or mania, while leading your life in the public eye. Margaret Trudeau rubbed shoulders with some of the most famous political leaders of the 20th century, and to keep up a good face despite her illness must have been an incredible feat!

If you have been personally touched by mental illness (especially bipolar, or what used to be called "manic depression"), then you will most certainly relate to the stories in this book.

Get thee to the library!