Things I Wish I Knew Before My Mom Died by Ty Alexander

BATB score: 7/10 👩‍👧💞

ahh it’s actually a memoir for her mom’s passing rather than a self-help book; yet, in the mom-memoir category “Crying in H Mart” wins by a mile 💗

Best for: daughters. even better if your are both a daughter-to-a-mother and a mother-to-a-daughter

BATB lingering thought: two good tips, from things I wish I knew before my Mom died, is (A) to record your mom’s voice somewhere somehow and (B) in response to anyone’s statement of “my mom just passed” is “aww, my condolences, I miss your mom too. I remember that one time that your mom XYZ” - share the memory so the love lives on.

Best as: treat everyday like the day that your mother will die

Best to: unfortunately, this memoir got a little redundant after page 80; I understand this memoir was written for the writer to process the death

Best quotes: “Being depressed just never made any sense to me. It’s feeling everything but yet feeling nothing at all.”

“If we all shamelessly loved each other, then death would be an easier pill to swallow. If we loved without regret, without guilt, without judgement - you know: shamelessly - then death would just be the price we paid for a love so grand.”

“It was my letting go that gave me a better hold.”

“If you don’t take the time to work on the life you want, you’re eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with the life you don’t want.”