Blue Nights by Joan Didion

"Could it be that I heard it more this way: Time passes, but not so aggressively that anyone notices? Or even, time passes, but not for me? Could it be that I did not figure in either the general nature of the permanence of the slowing, the irreversible changes in mind and body, the way in which you wake one summer morning less resilient than you were and by Christmas find your ability to mobilize gone, atrophied, no longer extant?" - p. 17, Blue Nights by Joan Didion

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This is a beautiful, poignant memoir on aging and reflection. I feel blessed that I read it at my current age, while my children are still so young. It was like having a wise older friend sit at my kitchen table and give me a glimpse of what's to come in 30 years and remind me that I should savor and soak up the joy of my present life and role as a mother. I recommend this for all ages, but particularly, for mothers and fathers of school age children.