Learning how to be a parent was easy. I looked at what my mother did, and then I did the opposite.
The challenge: Learning how to be me. Thalia and Tina are sisters. Susan had Thalia in 1987 when she was married to her second husband, Kenneth Goldman. Susan often says Thalia is the best part of that deal. When Thalia's not around, she's quick to add, Thalia's the only good part of that deal.
I had a car accident two weeks before Thalia was born. I wasn't driving. My mother was. My belly tightened. The cop said, "You're going into labor. Just have a seat." Our car straddled the grassy median. The back seat seemed like Hollywood melodrama but nobody seemed to think it was a big deal. I kept telling Thalia to wait. Just wait. My chin was wet and I couldn't see clearly. I watched as my mothertook charge of the scene, advising the cops which onlookers were real witnesses and who were the rubberneckers. Labor subsided and Thalia waited the two weeks. The night before she was born, I told my mother, I don't think I can do this. She laughed and said, You have no choice.
I was used to having no choice but terrified to begin motherhood. i was ill-equipped and no decent role model in sight.
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