7

Their own grace and style); having struggled to let go of,
yet stay present for, my adolescent children as they struggle
toward independence; and, finally, having bowed under the
poverty of single-mothering and resting how it tore at the
fabric of my family and hampered the functional dynamics of
our life, I have only compassion and respect for Jeanne
White.

If my child were dying, and I could arrange for her to travel
and meet her musician idols, and if I could become
financially secure so that I could spend my time being the
Mother I want to be, if I could laugh and smile and still
enjoy life as mortality cast a shadow on our days (giving my
child the greatest gift of all -- the gift of living each
moment!), and --yes-- if I could arrange for Elton John to sing
at the funeral and make that funeral an historical (albeit
media) event and secure, through fame, a piece of immortality
for my child, you had better believe I absolutely would.

And because I am a Mother, I would be expected to do it all;
and because I am a 'good' Mother, I would want to do it all.
Those who are critical of Jeanne White, seem to resent her
successes, resenting more than anything the creative ways in
which she found support for herself and her family. I wonder
what those critics have to say about Ryan White's father...