I am so excited to have Janine Urbaniak Reid on the Still Becoming podcast. Janine and I recorded this interview in May just as the ongoing Covid19 pandemic was settling into the United States.
Janine recently wrote and published an incredible memoir entitled The Opposite of Certainty. In her book Janine invites us along the journey she went through after her son Mason was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor at ten years old.
From the press release of Janine's book:
"In this story of survival against all odds, Janine recounts how doctors discovered her 10-year-old son Mason had an inoperable brain tumor and how she was diagnosed with PTSD soon after and then breast cancer.
“'I did not volunteer to be an uncertainty expert,'” said Reid. “'Somehow, I learned to calibrate my step, as normal morphed into something new and unrecognizable from one day to the next. There have been good months with some very bad days, and bad months with some very good days.'”
This book felt like a companion during uncertain times. Janine's honesty and grounded guidance was a relief to read. Sometimes when we are having a hard time, hearing from and reading about someone who is not spoon feeding us positivity is just what we need. We discuss hardships, uncertainty, motherhood, faith with doubt, the awkward things people say when we are struggling, and that we can be ok when everything is not ok.
Janine Urbaniak Reid was born in Chicago and grew up in California. She graduated from the University of California at San Diego. She was vice president of a San Francisco public relations firm before she began raising a family, and then writing full time. She lives in NorthernCalifornia with her family and a motley assortment of pets. Visit JanineUrbaniakReid.com.
Episode 45 - Interview with Janine Urbaniak Reid: The Opposite of Certainty