I did not intend for this story to be published. Through a flood of tears I wrote a longer version the day after my mother passed away. Sitting at her word processor, in her home office, the words flew from my heart, through my fingers, onto her keyboard. This is her story, as told to me and through my observations as her daughter. She was my best friend, my mentor and the only human who knew me before I was born. The mother/child womb connection is real.

What I wrote that day became her eulogy. Mom experienced life, for a short time, as an orphan — so it seemed appropriate to hold her memorial at an orphanage. As an international newspaper columnist, book and magazine author and public speaker, it was no surprise that the guest list included writers from everywhere. One was Bud Gardener, a fellow author and friend of my mother, who was also the Dean at my college. After sharing her eulogy, Bud approached me with a question; “Could you shorten that a bit and email it to me? I’d like to include Helen’s story in an anthology I’m compiling.”  And that is how this story, HELEN HELP US!, found its way into Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul. You can read it on page 283 of the book.