The Joy of Six
Charlene Potterbaum (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
2002 PageFree Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 1589610385 Amazon's price is: Paperback - $9.95
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What my six kids would rather you didn't know about my six decades of living, loving & laughing!
What a delightful, modest recounting of a woman's raison d'être. All Feminists check your prejudices at the door because Charlene Potterbaum is a queen of a woman, from whom all humanity, humor & moods flow.
Some chapters of The Joy of Six are: The Mother Inferior Here No More in which this longtime author mutters “...I thought that once we got the children raised, life would be easier...” Dream on, O Wise Grandma! Everything is Relative when we meet all six of the offspring. Remember this author has 20 grandchildren & two great-grandchildren! However, this is not a formal occasion, & meeting a mother's children isn't like roll-call at school. The identifying stories are sure to tug at your tear ducts & your funny bones. They're Covered, All Right -- about how “...Things look so great from a distance, but up close they often have a taint, a burden that clings to them...” (Pg 33) Now Weight Just A Minute! -- in which this domestic diva ponders & whines a little on the inevitable subject of gain & fat. Slices of Life -- a potpourri harvested from unlikely places & uncontrollable circumstances. Wonderment -- wherein our motherly author, upon watching the television during those dark hours of 9/11, realizes that a little curly-haired bundle of joy she had known had grown up to be one of the airline stewards on United Airline flight #11 which flew into the first World Trade Center Tower. Oh Laurie, Please Forgive Me -- in which words once spoken come back to haunt: boys tease girls because they love them or “...To think that something you said to a child...could bring such a chaos within her...” (Pg 81) Celeb Escapades -- in which our Hoosier author recounts her brushes with famous authors, human potential gurus & comediennes. Oh, Brother! -- marriage with an only child, & missing one's brothers! Picture This! is about Charlene's 75 year-old sister & her run in with the law! My Garage Door Opener inspires awe of frequencies & acupunturists. Ah, the connections we make! Remembering...I Do A Lot Of That These Days... “...For a few treasured and blessed moments, I listened to the dust settle, the pipes wheeze, fluorescents choke and sputter...” (Pg. 110) Prissy Little Princess -- a drama written in nursery tale style...“...our fretful little princess was crying. She saw that her mental garden was completely overrun with nettles, briars and weeds. The fruits of the Spirit she'd hoped to harvest and bring before the King were being choked and strangled by so many negative thoughts...” (Pg 113) Insights in which this mother of six, wife of one, sister of many discovers a heretofore undiscovered anatomical phenomenon which no x-ray machines pick up: the rosebud of grandmotherhood.
Midwestern earthiness & Baptist humor at it's best, Charlene Potterbaum is mother for all seasons, has a husband who makes appearances at all the right times, is her pastor's fount of wisdom & has Jesus as her coach.
The Joy of Six is filled with the best kind of advice & stories, deftly told, of kitchen sink philosophy, bedrock faith, bathroom comedy, & sitting room sorrows, & is quite simply a charming book about the joy of a life lived well.
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