Illinois Foster Parent and Retired Early Intervention Therapist Gets Honest in New Memoir
Delkab, Illinois, January 2, 2023—Illinois foster parent and retired early intervention therapist, Patty Ihm, is openly discussing the challenges and revelations in parenting the children that have come to her family through the child welfare system in her memoir, Isn’t That Enough? Musings of Motherhood and the Meaning of Life. Each journal entry reflects on the inner truth of what it’s like to care for children with early childhood trauma and provokes readers to open their minds about the impact of an imperfect system.
With three biological children, six adopted, and 18 more she and her husband have offered their home to over time, Patty seeks to validate the complex experiences of motherhood, meeting the audience wherever they are in their journey. The memoir reinforces healing, preserves the importance of family, and confirms the beauty in all that is unknown.
Patty steps away from beekeeping, soap-making, and caring for over 20 chickens that roam her gardens to amplify her children, and herself, who give life to the farmette to which they all reside. Early in her book, she says, “I speak with the voice of a mother—biological, foster, and adoptive—to share my experiences of parenting, knowing well that there is much more still to unfold.”
Isn’t That Enough? is a memoir for all families and all who have felt isolation and loneliness on their journey. It is for those still willing to try to find their identity despite adversity. Set to be released on January 17, 2023, with Our Galaxy Publishing, Patty is hopeful the book will raise awareness, evoke conscious conversations, and provide support to those who need it most.
About Isn’t That Enough? Musings of Motherhood and the Meaning of Life
“This is a story of my family, and, really, the story of many families. It’s everyone’s story because we’re all human. We all experience the depths of true emotion as we are led along the path of our days. And maybe, we all end up back where we first began.”
Patty Ihm knows a thing or two about chaos. She’s laid with the disarray that ensues in the trenches of motherhood, pondered questions of worthiness when she thought no one was listening and ruminated in the dark as she examined the things that present themselves in the shadows. But she’s also learned to find the glory in ungracious things, the power of surrendering to that which is uncontrollable, and the truth in knowing what she loves will always come back to her.
Isn’t That Enough? Musings of Motherhood and the Meaning of Life is a memoir that openly discusses the challenges and revelations in parenting the children that have come to Patty’s family through the child welfare system. Her journal entries take readers through various snapshots in time and space where she stirs in the vulnerable complexities of life and the emotions that encourage her to embrace all that may always be unknown.
It stays with you like a guiding light on your shoulders; empathizing and validating, calling you to lean into your introspective thoughts, and supporting you to lead with the heart. Patty cuts her words free, vividly inviting you into her world as she expounds upon the revelations of her past to appreciate the beauty of all that is to come.
About Patty Ihm:
Patty Ihm is a writer, former early intervention therapist, and teacher living in Illinois on a farmette where she is a mother to many; three biological, six adopted, and 18 children she and her husband have offered their home to as foster parents—some for a day and some to stay forever. Her debut middle-grade, coming-of-age novel, Goldie Bird, was published in 2024 by Our Galaxy Publishing. She is also the author of Isn’t That Enough? Musings of Motherhood and the Meaning of Life, a memoir published by Our Galaxy Publishing in 2022, and Ode to a Boy, a self-published work dedicated to her now-grown sons.
Fueled on coffee and the soul-cleansing therapy of the written word, Patty tends to thirty-something chickens, a mix of hens and roosters, nine bee hives, and a thriving garden. In the quiet parts of the day (and sometimes amidst the chaos of life), Patty finds pockets of time to write and share her experiences with others.
Learn more about Patty through Beyond the Narrative, Our Galaxy’s interview series amplifying the voices of women writers, Where Vulnerability Meets Creativity.
Read Goldie Bird by Patty Ihm:
“We were both quiet for a while. I mostly just looked out the window. I wondered why Kate had mentioned the idea of my dad. She did, though, know what it was like to wonder and to try to understand why parents do the things that they do. Maybe she was thinking about her dad. Maybe our questions and sadness were all mixing together.”
Eleven-year-old Goldie’s world is changing fast, and most of it is out of her control. Loneliness overcomes her as her beloved sister, Elise, goes off to college, and the recent loss of her great aunt consumes her mother’s emotions. Goldie feels adrift and out of place.
But when she joins her mother for a trip to Heritage where her late aunt lived, Goldie forms an unlikely friendship with Kip, a sweet boy with an infectious sense of adventure. Kip shows Goldie the carefree thrills of birch bending and secret caves where the two bond over common experiences and escape the complexities of the adults around them.
As she reluctantly returns to her life, Goldie must adjust to being a middle schooler as things at home become more challenging. Despite her deep love for her sister and mother, Goldie feels unsure of where she fits in their lives, forcing her to grapple with the bittersweet aspects of growing up and letting go of the way things used to be.
With her frequent letters from Kip and her new friend, Kate, by her side, Goldie tries to navigate all that comes her way on the quest for acceptance and belonging. Goldie symbolizes the universal experience of deep familial connections, friendship, and self-identity in this timeless, coming-of-age novel.
READ THE OFFICIAL GOLDIE BIRD PRESS RELEASE
Check out the blog by Our Galaxy’s publishing advisor, and Goldie Bird’s editor, Christine Weimer, Goldie Bird: The Book That Found Me First, to learn more about how this story has impacted her as a writer, reader, and editor.
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As Patty Ihm shared about her own journey with Our Galaxy:
“This has been an incredible run with each interaction pretty much being a highlight. From our first contact, I was pulled in by Christine’s unbridled enthusiasm for her work and also by her ability to draw things from me that I did not know I had. During our phone conversations, we would always have little chats about kids or food or baseball or pretty much anything that came up. She knew exactly how to make me feel comfortable. Christine is a published poet and accomplished writer, but she is also a gifted communicator, organizer, planner, and businesswoman. Brilliant and well-read, Christine demonstrated her ability to see the highlights and flaws in a lengthy manuscript. With remarkable resilience and tenacity, she worked with me for four years to make sure that my finished novel was exactly what I had hoped it would be.”
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