December 14, 2016
Wednesday
A new baby is like the beginning of all things — a dream of possibilities.
— Eda LeShan, 1922-2002
American psychologist and writer
In the 1980s I was a devotee of Eda LeShan’s work. She was a contributing editor to Parents magazine and wrote a regular column for Woman’s Day. I was in my mid-thirties then, in the early years of my marriage, a first-time mother, a stepmother, a full time teacher. I found her writing and her counsel to women like me to be sensible, practical, and reassuring. She encouraged allowing children to daydream, and she discouraged spanking them. She had a significant influence on my parenting and my teaching. She published her first book when she was in her 40s, and wrote and produced a play when she was in her 70s. She stopped writing for Woman’s Day about the time I stopped buying it (because just how many recipes for weeknight chicken dinners that serve six do you need?), and I lost track of her. I thought of her just last week, however, and learned that I need to get a book she wrote in 1984, Grandparents: A Special Kind of Love.
My grandson, Joseph Angelo April, pictured below, turns six months old today. Thank you for all the joy, all the hope, all the possibilities you have brought to our lives. I love you.
