So far, no posts to my blog; that's disappointing, but it is early days. What I would really like to see would be some comments on my book; and, even more than that, some conversations with other parents like me.

If you are interested in reading the book, you can either ask the clerk in a Borders or Barnes and Nobel bookstore to order it for you or you can go online at Borders, Barnes and Nobel or Amazon.com and order it that way. The title is Mom no More and the author is Mignon Matthews. My married name was Gunzenhauser and my children were Eva Lois Gunzenhauser and Albert Louis Gunzenhauser; but, I did not use surnames in the book. We lived in Atlantic County, NJ, when they were growing up and Albert returned there to live with his family.

The purpose of my book was twofold: 1) to help others who have lost children by sharing my experiences 2) and to memorialize my children.

I decided to do as many book signings as possible, also for those reasons. At these events, I have read short pieces from the book before opening the floor to discussion and there have been some excellent discussions. Usually, the discussions are with other bereaved parents, but sometimes, they are with people who have experienced other types of losses. Grief over lost loved ones has many commonalities.

The signing events have usually been in libraries, but sometimes they have been in other sites like women's clubs, churches, grief support groups and bookstores. Borders will not host any author whose books are not stocked in the store, so you won't see me there, as my publisher prefers to sell online. Borders Express does not have the same philosophy and I have done book signings there. They ordered a stock of books and then asked me to sign those remaining after the event for a special display, which I was happy to do.

My publisher is Hatala Geroproducts, a small company whose products are for seniors. All books are in large print and all of interest to the Senior Citizen. My book was appropriate for them because the loss of adult children would be mostly a senior topic; however, when I lost my 18 year old daughter, I was just 41 years of age and I am far from being an isolated case.

I guess that will do it for blog #2. It is time to get on with my day.