More research this week. I have discovered the name of the person who performed the lobotomy on my great grandmother. After a few hours of searching, I now have his medical career history. He comes from a line of respected physicians from St. Paul. As I start building parts of the book, I also have a list of people to interview and possibly to meet with in person at some point. The neurosurgeon who performed this surgery is deceased, but I would like to talk to his son, who is currently a surgeon and has been a donor for The National Trust for Historic Preservation. Oddly enough, this man -- who removed a portion of my relative's pre-frontal cortex -- was connected to the U of M, where I had a neuro-psych evaluation following chemotherapy and breast cancer due to the neurotoxic effects of both cancer treatment and ptsd, paired with premature menopause that also came as a result of cancer treatment. ~~ Once again, my emotions are at odds. I struggle to grasp how such a good man who saved lives could also be the one who turned my grandmother into a partial person. I don't blame him; I simply am trying to wrap my head around the practices of the early to mid 1900's, especially the treatment of women. I've been reading a great deal about the institutionalization of Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of the famous author who grew up in the same neighborhood as my great grandmother's lobotomist. Consequently, it was in the same area that I lived as 1999 turned into the new millennium. Ernest Hemingway spent the last portion of his life at St. Mary's Hospital/Mayo Clinic, admitted as a psychiatric patient. I continue to find these odd connections and threads that weave the story in and out of my life. My writing mentor told me last year that the right pieces would come together as I whole-heartedly put myself into this project; she is right. Despite the roller coaster of feelings that come with the research, I am completely convinced that this is a book I've always been meant to write. Every day assures me more and more of that. Just like at other points in my life, God has things flow with such ease when I am on the right path, pursuing my purpose. The doors just continue to open and I am amazed at what lies before me. -- Michelle