Monica Wesolowska in Pyschology Today: “After Loss, Courage: She was given the choice to let her newborn son live or die,” by Anneli Rufus in Stuck
Anneli RufusWhat kind of reactions has the book been getting, and how does it feel to know that people are reading your no-holds-barred account of a personal tragedy in which you were forced to make a life-or-death choice?
Monica WesolowskaI’m not sure how I’m dealing with it. ... I wrote my memoir about Silvan primarily for myself, but as soon as it was written, I wanted other people to read it — even though I was terrified of being read. ... Although a few people have criticized my husband and me for making a choice to let our son die, it turns out that none of them had actually read the book. When people do read it, and take the time to write to me, they floor me with their responses. They say they feel lucky for having read about Silvan, or they feel freed to talk about death to their own children, or better able to think about their own coming deaths. In some ways, I feel more connected to the world because of this book than ever before. So having Silvan did connect me to others after all. And at the same time, I’m scared because I suspect this feeling can’t last, and that someday I will have to write something else. And so it comes back to dealing with fear again, doesn’t it?
To read the entire interview, go to Psychology Today.