I have just read EvelineMacDougall’s powerful piece, “Nothing to debate,” in this past Saturday’s Recorder. Wow. It hit home. My mother had 13 pregnancies in less than 19 years; I saw how her life was bounded by those 19 years of pregnancies, let alone the mayhem of 10 of us racing through the house yelling, rebellious, opinionated, needy, on and on. Somehow we survived, but at what a cost to our mother. Here it is the 21st century and women of child-bearing age are horrifically deprived of their right to be mistresses of their lives. Eveline’s feature stories are one of the reasons I subscribe to the Recorder, and she’s not the only good writer the paper publishes. I thank them all. Please take good care of them — it’s what makes the Recorder a unique small newspaper.
Connie Clarke
Shelburne Falls