Between Men-O-Pause and Dead is about what happens when a woman owns her shit and takes a deep dive into healing while trying to balance reinventing her business, exploring dating, and building a healthy relationship with herself.
Joey, a.k.a. the dolly mama, is an established licensed artist/entrepreneur with abundant natural wit. She had it all: the beautiful house, a fabulous studio, and a dreamy fiancé. The problem was the Universe thought differently.
Deep down inside, somewhere between her heart and her brain, she knew the life she had chosen with this man was not one of her best ideas. It seemed her Queen of Denial was in denial. Since she had worked so hard to get where she was, did she really want to let all that go? Of course not, plus it was a lot easier to stay in a very unhealthy relationship than to look at herself, knowing icky choices would have to be made. She liked her fictitious snow globe life. She knew if she shook it up, everything wouldn't settle neatly, or even more frightening, it would break into a million pieces all over the floor with no broom in sight. And that is exactly what happened.
In their garage, he announced, "We're done" and then drove off to the gym.
Once the dust settled and she could breathe again, the fear of the unknown came for a visit, holding up a mirror, asking her to take a really good look at herself. That did not go well, so martinis came for a visit and she signed up for Match.com. One funny story after another kept her distracted until she ran out of distractions.
Eventually, Joey knew she had to take responsibility for the choices she made in her past and face her fear of never feeling good enough. First, she decided to take a second chance by re-birthing herself. Did she get stuck in the canal? Yes. Did she come out ass-backwards? Yes. But the stories, trials, and tribulations were all worth it because she found herself.
If you are going through your own crisis, if you are not feeling worthy, if you are starting over and not in the mood, if you feel there is no hope, if you need a laugh and a lesson or two, this book is worth a binge read.
