Jewells of Thought

The National flower of Tunisia, Modern Carthage, is a Jasmine.

From Cathage Mag

Maybe it’s the fact that my Grandma, Mom and I spent a lot of time together for the farm, but Mom’s my best friend. We have discussed this before, Mom felt the same with Grandma. Mom and I don’t have sisters, but we do have cousins and aunts who have been as close to us as sisters. Cyprian is the real portrait Ms. Gentry was looking into, but her other characters bring just as much poignancy to the series.

As a young woman, Lisbeth is still getting used to being called a Doctor Hastings. The first couple of chapters are solely about this woman not quite 30 yet, working in the ER. Her father is an archeologist and her mother was a skilled surgeon. Things happened nearly 15 years prior; her mother disappeared near the Cave of the Swimmers.

Mothers and daughters. Just knowing those facts above, shows the layers of emotional turmoil that speaks volumes in black and white. Why did Lisbeth become a doctor? How did her mother, Magdalena, disappear? She didn’t die? Apparently her body was not found in all those years. So now I will add another factor to this mystery. In the first few chapters Lisbeth finds herself with her father where her mother had disappeared. A time portal dumps her through an ancient aqueduct.

Can you imagine losing your mother at the unfortunate age of 5? I’m grateful that I have my mother, but I know others who don’t have their mothers around. I simply cannot imagine the aching loss of such a precious figure in my life growing up. This little girl never fully gets her closure. It’s a big part of why she’s a frantic first year resident who makes a bad call.

If you are this young woman who has lived without her mother for over a decade and a half how do you deal with that loss? Perhaps follow her steps in life, like medical school? I have done the same even without a loss. It was a dream of mine to be like my mommy, marry a farmer and take care of a family. Funny how we grow up and make such topsy turvy decisions. This young woman went for this dream all the way. Is that a bit ironic, my dreams have grown up, but hers never wavered.

This entire series has challenged myself and my faith as well. Could I lose my mother at such a tender age and grow up to be at least half the person she was? Okay now what would happen if you literally woke up in another century and you end up being reunited with the mother you thought had left you? Would you be happy or would the fact she was still alive and didn’t come back to you infuriate you to your core?

I know this is a fiction book with one trace of historical truth woven in. There is a dynamic between mothers and daughters that is so special that a loss this devastating has to be truly an emotional roller-coaster in such a crazy fantasy idea. What would you feel in that situation though? How does one even begin to fathom? Would recognition be difficult with so much time in between?

One of the messages I have come to understand from reading this is that this disappearance by mother and then the daughter brought about the biggest change in life one can go through.

Mothers Day is more than the commercial retail experience.

We may only have a limited amount of time as Mothers and Daughters with our respective Mothers and Daughters or being them in the span of a lifetime.

What do you want your Mother and or Daughter to learn from you?

I would encourage those over the age of 18 to read the Carthage Series by Lynne Gentry.

If you want to challenge yourselves spiritually.