Memoir by Debbie Phelps out today
A memoir by Debbie Phelps, the mother of Olympic mega-champion Michael, hits the shelves today. A Mother For All Seasons describes her life as a single mother raising three kids, including the emotional highs of Michael's eight gold medals in Beijing and the embarrassing aftermath -- his being photographed inhaling from a bong.
I haven't read the book yet, but based on excerpts, it's more appealling that Michael's own book about Olympic glory. It seems much deeper and more honest.
Phelps, principal at Windsor Mill Middle School, writes of an idyllic childhood growing up in a small town in western Maryland, then having to deal with two traumatic blows: the untimely death of her father at age 51, and a divorce that left her a single parent raising two daughters and a son.
"My mother had no profession," she said, according to AP. "When my father died, there she was. I watched her make five dollars out of one dollar, a dollar out of 10 cents. She stretched a budget. But she also taught me so much about how to embrace life: have faith, believe in God and we will get through this as a family."
Those lessons were invaluable to Debbie when her marriage fell apart.
"The man I married, who was the father to my three children, he was like my knight in shining armor," Phelps said. "He was my high school sweetheart. We were together a long time. But what I found is that when you get married sometimes, instead of growing closer, you grow apart. That happens in a lot of marriages around the country and probably around the world. When that whole thing happened, I was surprised, I was shocked ... ."
Baltimore Sun photo by Jed Kirschbaum
