The Mouth Is for Talking

A heart-warming true story of the effects of life-long marginalization on a woman and the efforts of one man to minimize its devastating consequences. As the story opens, Mary is a homebound octogenarian who by force of circumstances has become trapped inside a life of isolation and reclusion; Ron is a middle-aged stranger who comes into Mary’s life from seemingly nowhere every Monday afternoon at three-thirty. The story details the delightful, affectionate, and deeply moving relationship that develops between the couple over the course of three years. The narrative unfolds against a backdrop of disruptive and discounting intrusions by Frank, Mary’s youngest brother, with whom she still lives and whose resentment and put-downs she daily bears. The reader is led on a uniquely different journey through the world of Mary’s profound patience and courage in dealing with both the adversity that has been brought upon her by a single misfortune in early youth and the social and emotional deprivation that ensue. Through the honesty, trust, and intimacy that develop over the course of a hundred and fifty visits, the lives of Mary and her new friend become forever changed.