If it Weren’t For Me…

In this warm and honest memoir, Colene Sawyer Schlaepfer recounts almost a century of living, beginning as a farm girl during the Great Depression, growing up during hard times and war, finding expression in the women’s movement and surmounting societal obstacles to reach her childhood goal of becoming a Ph.D. therapist. Along the way she reared four successful children – but after two painful divorces, the happy marriage she had longed for seemed to elude her, until, at 60, she married her dream man. Colene and Fred have shared nearly 28 rewarding years together as this book goes to print.

Reading through Colene’s life, starting with her family’s loss of their farm in Idaho and move to California in the dead of winter to live with her adored grandparents and great-grandfather, you will experience the wonderment, challenges, and heartbreaks of a woman, young and growing older, as she navigates the changes taking place around her and within herself. The endearing candor of her writing brings clarity to the personal discoveries she has made along the way, discoveries transformed into lessons she generously shares with others.

For the women who came of age in Colene’s generation, her struggles were there struggles. Those who come after will find inspiration in the life of this steadfast role model who helped blaze the trail for greater equality and opportunity for her gender.

Reviews:

Took Me by Surprise. I Couldn’t Put it Down! By Carol D.

I couldn’t put this book down. I started glancing at it, intending to read it later. Once started, I couldn’t stop. I finished the book in one sitting. I never do that!”

Insightful and fascinating Memoir. By Catherine McGreevy

There is something about reading the details of another person’s life, especially one as interesting and as well-written as this, that draws me in and makes me re-assess the ups and downs of my own life and what lessons there are to learn from it. The author writes frankly, honestly, and with insight about a life that takes some surprising twists and reminds us that no one really knows what the future brings. It is up to each of us to decide how to confront it-hopefully with as much grace and courage as Schlaepfer does.