This Day in the Life: Diaries from Women Across America

Front Cover
Did You Ever Want to Read a Friend’s Diary?

In suburban neighborhoods and on family farms, in uptown lofts and homeless shelters, women across America chronicled their lives on the same day—June 29, 2004. This Day in the Life shares more than thirty complete diaries and hundreds of additional candid moments.

Full of intimate details and laugh-out-loud truths, and drawing on the experiences of women of all ages and backgrounds, this diverse collection is a surprising reminder of how much we all have in common. If you’ve ever wondered what the woman standing in front of you in line was thinking, This Day in the Life is a refreshing glimpse at how we really spend our days—and the value of every single one.

7:03 a.m. Carryn wakes to nurse and I want to sleep. My husband pretends not to hear her, but sometimes I wake him up just so he can see my job is twenty-four hours a day. —Jenee Guidry, 30, mom of four

8:20 a.m. I just read two Psalms aloud to Dad. In the last few months of his life he loved for me to read them to him, both in person and on the phone. I still do it, hoping they reach him in the other world. —Rosanne Cash, 49, singer/songwriter

4:00 p.m. The cast of Friends is on with Oprah. That was one of the few shows I watched every week. My real friends suck. Not a single one called me on my birthday. —Kim Olsovsky, 31, teacher

1915 There’s a boom in the distance, rocket or mortar. I am sitting next to a blast wall built from sandbags. Do I stay here? Do I go into the trailer and lie on the floor? Six minutes pass. I am about to miss dinner. —Beth Garland, 42, army sergeant
 

Selected pages

Contents

Named One of the Souths Best Writers Not on
13
Ranked Tenth in the Pro Rodeo World Standings
34
The First Female Firefighter in the FDNY
59
NASA Astronaut
82
Bubby
105
Nursing Home Resident
129
Eternal Optimist working Two Jobs
146
Thirtytwo Years at the General Motors Plant
162
Parte de la diáspora cubana
181
Diary of a Misfit Housewife
202
Seventyfive miles to the Hospital Three Times a week
224
A Refugee Helping Refugees
245
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About the author (2005)

Joni B. Cole is a freelance writer/editor and mom, often at the same time. Rebecca Joffrey is an executive with two children. B. K. Rakhra writes fiction and is testing her theory that no kids + no husband = eternal youth. They all live in Vermont.

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