Nobody Ever Dies When I'm Around

A Lifetime of Feeling Left Out

By: Jane Baker

Narrated by: Jane Baker

Length: 4 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

In 2002 my mother passed away. I realized then how little I knew about her life before we seven children came along. I had been focused on remembering the highs and lows of my life, but my mother shared very little. Not wanting to leave my children lacking for backstory on their mom, I decided to write about my childhood as a record for them. As often happens, life got busy and my writing fell to the side for a bit. In 2006 my eldest son, Sam, was diagnosed with stage 3b Hodgkin's lymphoma. I had read that one of my favorite authors, Roald Dahl, wrote James and the Giant Peach while he attended to his son after a terrible car accident. It was then that I returned to writing about my youth, more this time to keep my sanity through Sam's treatment and to keep Sam laughing. No one who has heard about my childhood has had an easy time believing me. I think the saying is "True dysfunction is stranger than fictitious dysfunction." Something like that.

Spoiler alert: my son is fine, healthy, and happy, and what came from my writing is what you have before you. I always felt that at the heart our family was very much like the Waltons, if the Waltons had a lot of dysfunction and humor was their only coping mechanism. I think you will feel the same!

It's in the memories and the writing about them that I see how many different roles I have played in my life. Sometimes I've been the hero, sometimes the asswipe, usually somewhere in between. These roles have been in tragedies, comedies, farces, and mysteries, and the roles have been varied. Daughter, sister, cousin, aunt, friend, girlfriend, mom, director, teacher, cancer mom, employee. If my life were my acting resume, I'd be pretty accomplished. The result of all my memorizing and analyzing and dwelling is what is written here. These are my memories and my thoughts, as disturbing as they may be.

Enjoy.

©2013, 2015, 2017 Jane Baker (P)2017 Jane Baker

This story resonated with me on many levels!

Having grown up in a suburb outside of Philadelphia in the 70's and 80's, this book spoke to me on many levels. I too went to catholic school and experienced many of the same experiences as Jane Baker. While social media today can be divisive, the 70's and 80's was a lonely time. It was very difficult to be able to reach out openly about who you were as a human being, the adversity you were facing personally, and many did not have the knowledge about the resources available, This made being a teenager a lonely time. Jane's story is a beautiful story about family, adversity, illness, friendship, and courage. Jane's story has inspired me to be who I was always meant to be: a fighter, more understanding, more loving, and a courageous human being!
Thank you, Jane!