Reviews

On Becoming a Role Model by Lynne Schmidt

keana's review

On Becoming a Role Model by Lynne Schmidt is a masterpiece in honesty. Very rarely are we willing to reveal our faults or insecurities, yet Schmidt lays each of hers (and her family’s) for readers to bear witness. However, this is not with malicious intent; her words offer her empathy, a comforting hand, as if to say, ‘I know what this feels like. You’re not alone.’ While the actions of family, such as Schmidt’s parents, may have caused original trauma, it is also family, her nieces, that is the catalyst for healing. She speaks for those with mental illness, learning to express her emotions and vulnerabilities, and for those with ‘invisible’ disabilities responding to disbelief with strength reverberating, “would you like to see my paperwork?” This collection is truly Schmidt’s transformation, on her becoming a role model. When she first contemplated how “you tell someone who loves you so much [...] that you hate the person they love?”in Asking Questions, she slowly finds reason and strength to become better not only for her family, but most importantly, for herself.