‘My Mother’s Pearls of Wisdom: Advice for Becoming a Practical Adult’
OCEAN CITY – “Everyone seems to have these wonderful words of advice, but when you are young it goes in one ear and out the other.”
As an adult, Lisa Chase finally understood that advice was valuable so she and her mother, Elena Chase, teamed up to write a book to help others. It was a three-year effort, but they finally published “My Mother’s Pearls of Wisdom” earlier this year.
“My Mothers Pearls of Wisdom” is meant to be a guidebook through life. It is targeted for ages 16 to late 30s and early 40s.
The book covers financials and investing money all the way to providing simple tips on finding common ground when you are in an argument.
Lisa Chase grew up in Wilmington, Del., and spent many summers in Ocean City. Her father, Andrew Chase, had a part-time job at Stainton’s when he was young and has been a residential builder in Ocean City for decades now.
“I was a real novice. This is my first book and same with my mom so when she told me that she always wanted to write a book I said, ‘Well, let’s think about this,’” Chase said.
Once the mother and daughter agreed to take this big leap they ran into a few challenges.
First, they found out to qualify as an adult book it needed to be 10,000 words.
At the time they had just finished their first draft and it was about 6,800 words. “That’s when I thought, ‘Oh boy, mom, we’ve got a lot more to write,’” Chase said. They also struggled with how they should organize all of the valuable advice they wanted to share.
One colleague offered the idea to organize the advice by the way someone would go through life, starting out with friendships, relationships, high school experiences, college experiences, careers and life-changing events.
Another close friend gave Chase the idea to add empty pages at the end of every chapter so readers could write their own notes.
“Throughout the three years we both went into doubts and my mom said, ‘Even if we just write this book for our friends and family that’s fine.’
“I said, ‘No it’s not fine.’”
“The whole reason we are doing this is to help others and she agreed. So every time we wanted to throw in the towel, we would remember the reason we are doing this …. We really wanted to help others and teach people things,” Chase said.
At last their hard work paid off when they had the chance to read the book reviews. She said readers raved about how this book impacted their lives.
One woman wrote to Chase saying she really enjoyed the chapters on friendship. She recently had a struggle with her best friend and the understanding the book provides on friendships helped her during this time.
A gentleman in his 40s wrote to Chase and attached a picture from the notes he took when reading the education chapter. He wrote how he went straight to work after high school instead of going to college. He said he had always been afraid of the thought of attending college. He also said he found it fascinating that after reading this book he was going to start his education journey.
“A mother’s wisdom is guidance for the rest of your life. A mother first and foremost instills values, a sense of confidence and a curiosity of learning,” Chase said. “Whether that love of learning is a hobby, your career, learning about your relationships or some type of interest. That love of learning is so critical and it starts with moms.”
To purchase “My Mother’s Pearls of Wisdom” visit amazon.com or target.com
By CAMRYN SCHULTHEIS /For the Sentinel
