Susan Jo
YOUR STORY, AHN’S STORY and OUR STORIES is a beautiful journal for the preteen girl to use to celebrate the onset of menstruation..
It is also a journal for a mother or older woman to revisit her own experiences from this sacred time. In it she can find guidance for mentoring her daughter.
Included in this volume is the pre-historic tale of Ahn as she comes to this turning point in her life and moves on into living.
The author’s research further grounds the information and points to other resources which can enhance this life altering physical and spiritual event.
Susan Jo was born in 1944, which makes her officially a pre-boomer in the American culture. Raised with close association to those who weathered the Great Depression, recycling comes naturally. Sensitivity to nature and the Earth and the Universe were both inbred and nurtured, especially by her father. She grew up reading early and constantly, forming her life experience with the strong influence of authors on the young people’s fiction and biography shelves of her branch library in Brightwood, Indiana. Married happily 42 years, mother of two, grandmother of 5, great-aunt to 2 Susan Jo now lives in the woods of the Muscatatuck watershed.
Like almost all women Susan Jo survived menarche, marriage and its accompanying rituals and pleasures, childbirth, and menopause. In these processes for her there was an innate desire for spiritual understanding of the meaning inherent in each process and event. If one puts intent into their hearts something will result. Ahn’s Story was that gift and it began a decade long exploration resulting in the publication of this work. During that time of reflection there were critical relationships to examine: grandmothers (1877-1953) and (1888-1975), mother (1914-1996), aunts, mother-in-law (1921-1991), daughter, sisters-in-law (1940-1982), nieces, daughter-in-law, granddaughters, great-nieces, and many wise female mentors. The primary question was: “What do we need to know to be female in the best sense of the word?”
Conclusions reflect respect for all of the above relationships and a desire to reach and encourage other Susan Jo’s that are just beginning their journey of response-ability as a female.
Dr. Sharon Lynn Pugh, now a retired professor from Indiana University offered these comments about this unit of work when it was submitted for an Independent Study:
“This is an interesting and ambitious effort to create materials for exploring issues of maturation using a narrative approach, incorporating a parable of coming of age in a more innocent era of human history and the narratives of students and educators, and even of the creator of this unit. I think the embedding of stories and inclusion of the learners’ experiences are strong elements of this unit. The story of Ahn seems rather romanticized, but perhaps that is the point. It is written with real affection and it conveys the values …espouse(d) quite effectively. …
The emphasis on what is most basic in the female experience, as opposed to the commercialization of femininity evident in the media and marketplace, strikes me as healthy and valid. I think that we all need as much support in resisting popular culture as we can get, whatever our gender or stage. I don’t think this need is peculiar to modern times. I suspect that in every time and every setting there has been a need to defy some of the dictates or seductions of culture, which operates at a different level from that of personal experience. However in our setting, we do need to address the harmful effects of commercialized sexuality, which affects children from a very early age….
Given the immediacy of contemporary media, one story may not be enough. It might be worthwhile to develop a set of stories in various settings, including the contemporary, that emphasize the strengths and power that may be inherent in being female. In this regard I especially appreciate the open-endedness of this unit, inviting the teacher or mentor to share stories. Of course, these may not always be positive, but I think (the) intent is to open communications, not to channel particular stories or kinds of stories.”
