Choose Strong - Sally McRae - 2023

 

Well where to begin? Thank you to Rachel Leach (soon to be Bowling??? :) jajajajajajaj lol) for gifting me this book. Also no thanks to Rachel Leach for giving me a hard copy book (jajajaj). Next time just tell me the title and I will get it digitally (jajajaj). I will send you the bill for my optometry appointment shortly. 

Anyways, short book easy reading, probably the second saddest book I have ever read (see my review of What Made Maddy Run for the saddest). I do not really think the author is a great writer especially after reading Krakauer, Hanna, Lewis, and Larson, but hey I have written exactly 0 books so good for her for writing her story. There is going to be a second book (or maybe it is out already, I will have to check with Rachel) because this book only covers the first 18 (terrible) years of her life. It took her 20 years to write this book which I think was because she had a really hard time writing about some of her worst experiences growing up. I don’t blame her. What I am trying to say is that her life after 18 seems to get better so the next book may come out sooner rather than later. She also is older now and may therefore have more time to write.   

I am so so tired of reading about abusive fathers. For all you abusive dads out there guess what, disappear and send money and go to therapy but you are destroying your family by verbally and physically abusing your wife and kids. You are the very worst and the trauma you cause messes with their mental health for their entire lives.

I am so so tired of reading about women who do not leave an abusive husband. Leave people! Leave! I know it is hard and I know you have five kids but anywhere is better than with your abusive husband. It must be harder than I realize (I am not a woman and I have one child and I have not been married to someone who is abusive), but it still causes me a lot of anger/does not make sense to me that in a lot of instances the woman stays in the relationship. 

Even in this book, the mom chose to be strong while fighting cancer, but you can make a really strong argument that she chose to be weak in staying with her husband who beat her up and beat up her kids for years!!!! Hello?!?!?!?! And why have so many kids with someone who is crazy? Like aren’t there signs after the first child is born????? I don’t understand. And it is not like her husband was rich, she might have done just as well or better financially without him. 

Sally never mentions grandparents or other family members who could have helped them during this autobiography. I am a bit shocked and confused about this part. Was there no one they could turn to for help with money or to escape the abuse? No one? 

Last thing, I guess the family never talked about what was going on because they wanted to save face. I am a bit surprised about this because Sally is 47 years old meaning she did not grow up in the 50s, 60s, or 70s. She grew up in the 80s and 90s. I thought times were more modern then, and there was more therapy and maintaining a false appearance did not matter as much. I guess I am wrong and discussion of family problems with those who could help and therapy for family problems are from the 2010s and beyond. I don’t really know. 

Of course Sally is a scratch endurance athlete. She spent the first 20 years of her life suppressing intense pain and dealing with family tragedy with little to no support. She was always a good athlete. Her horrible youth did not kill her and therefore it supercharged her mind and she is now unstoppable (in a sense the same happened with Goggins and Shorter who both also had horrible/weird fathers).

I am currently reading/listening to (does listening count as reading???) The Blind Side by Michael Lewis so that review is coming up in about three weeks! Yeah! 

AI says Sally’s next book (her life from 18 onward) should be coming out soon. 

Also during this book, it says it almost never rained in Southern California. Reading this in Pittsburgh (where it always rains, snows, etc), I was shocked and in disbelief jajajajaj I need to move there.

Peace. Be well friends!!!