Recently, as I was recording my memoir for books-on-tape at the Penguin Studio, two chapters I read aloud were on mentors. Four women and three men. I was reminded of how many people it took to help me get beyond my early sense of failure and shame. Some of them were surrogate parents or sisters. One became a self-declared mentor. I realized again in reading about him how we don’t grow in isolation. It takes a village.
Our country was built on the shoulders of strong individualists. They fled their homeland communities and families to break new ground in the land of opportunity. Many succeeded—some to extraordinary degrees. I am the beneficiary of one – my great-grandfather, John D. Rockefeller. But there are scores more people for whom North America is a land of struggle, isolation and loneliness. All the money, health care, education and equal opportunity employment in the world cannot replace our basic need for engaged families and caring communities. A good way to fill the gap of loneliness is to find a mentor. We are never too old to have one, or be one. Continue reading →
