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Betsy Graziani Fasbinder became a second wife when she married a widow with a young son. Their family fashioned itself with loss and love as their foundation, and with tenderness and commitment as their guides. She is the author of the critically acclaimed novel Fire & Water and the founder of The Morning Glory Project, which celebrates those who have not only survived tragic loss and trauma, but have turned their heartbreak into heroism and their history into inspiration. Betsy has been a licensed psychotherapist in California since 1992. She lives with her husband in their intermittently empty next in Marin County, California.
Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite
Filling Her Shoes: A Memoir of an Inherited Family by Betsy Graziani Fasbinder is an honest and poignant memoir that revolves around the author’s struggles when it came to family problems and relationships. Betsy Graziani was soon going to be a mother for the first time and nothing had prepared her for being a stepparent. Her husband-to-be was a widower and she was gaining a son while getting married. Her memoir chronicles her steps of how to approach motherhood thoughtfully, her fears, her confusions, and her yearnings. The story represents what life was like for them as they became and endured as a family. It is a memoir about struggles, loss, being a stepmother, happiness, renewal, and commitment.
The memoir is honest and the author’s story is real and relatable. The journey of an imperfect childhood and the decision to start an imperfect life have been discussed nicely. The author writes her simple love story of her inherited family, capturing the ordinary and extraordinary moments inside her family, and how she falls in love with her inherited family. She shares her personal stories and experiences, making readers connect well with her feelings and emotions. Memoirs like this are eye-openers to readers as it helps them appreciate the special moments in life because of how fleeting life can be. It also makes many things in life seem unimportant when measured against losing loved ones. The subtle messages conveyed through the memoir are helpful for readers to look at the problems they face in life and appreciate them, and be grateful for what they have.
