内容简介：
Mother of Eight Survives Population Explosion was the original sub-title for the manuscript assembled in 1975-76, after my column "Just Between Us" finished its weekly four-year run in the Community Press, Portland, Oregon.Many years ago, at Christmas, I gave each of my eight adult children binders with copies of the incomplete manuscript titled Just Between Us that I am about to share with you. My children enjoyed searching for "their stories." They were all a huge part of what I did and why I did it.The 1960s and 1970s were times of tremendous turmoil and change in our society. It was all about Vietnam, human freedom, liberation, conservation, Zero Population Growth, and saving the earth for future generations. With eight children, I was living in the midst of my own population explosion - and turning heads whenever I packed them all with me into a restaurant or grocery store. Those were challenging times, interesting and fun times. This book speaks to life's challenges, the search for human freedom and spiritual growth. Putting one foot in front of the other on a daily basis. And for me personally it was a challenging time - raising eight children and facing a failing marriage.For decades, we sang and we cheered for personal liberty and freedom from war - but no one can be totally liberated. Every individual has commitments to honor. Freedom is a mental attitude, and being liberated is about half way between where you've been and where you'd like to be. It denotes progress. A sense of travel. In effect, you might say you're on a trip. Reaching plateaus along the way where you rest and then continue on.Don't expect children to understand you, the job you do, or the sacrifices youmake. They thought you were senile about the time they reached the age of reason. Their conviction strengthens as they grow older and begin taking sociology and psychology courses in college. They may even use you as a term project in the study of abnormal behavi