lisa.scardina@gmail.com

_{Lillian “Bonnie” Orkisz
(1928-2015)}

_{My mother said to each of her daughters, “You should write a book!” I think she really did want us to write books, but mostly it meant, “You can do anything you set your mind to.” She was always encouraging us to aim higher, to achieve more, to fulfill our potential and then some, because we were her life’s work.}

_{Mom loved to read and favored female authors who told big biopic stories (like Marge Piercy’s Gone to Soldiers). Later in life, she shared with me that she was writing a book. She was crafting a story in her mind with characters, a setting, plot and themes, though never writing any of it down. She would lay in bed at night thinking about the story, taking next steps to develop it, creating histories for her characters and setting up the next step in the plot. Her story was hers alone to write – a place where she could control the outcome and where her characters’ hard work and dedication would be rewarded.}

_{“What will you say about me when I am gone?” she would sometimes ask.}

_{We will tell stories, Mom – your stories and ours.}