Missed Periods
A Novel
by
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And so it went with everyone new to the neighborhood … the neighborly basket of cookies or muffins she’d bake complemented her tough-as-nails ability to collect valuable information. She was not to be trifled with in matters of neighborhood trivia and could gather information as well as any gumshoe and disseminate it like a Hollywood gossip writer …those families she liked were given the name of the best deli. If she really liked them, the wife might even be invited to join Ginny’s walking group.
“Meredith, you should talk to your new neighbor, Kate Hahn,” Ginny suggested.
“She’s a real sweetheart, and we walk in a group together. You’re more than welcome to join us …”
“Thanks, that’s so nice, but I work,” said Meredith.
“Well, so do I,” answered Ginny without hesitation. “But how’s a girl supposed to keep her figure if she doesn’t make time to exercise? We’ve been walking and talking since 1983, way before it became trendy … think about walking with us. We could use some younger blood … it keeps us on our toes.”
Ginny had a quintessential salesperson’s personality, and no one could resist her magnetism—except, that is, for Charlotte Gibbons Wentworth.
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About the Book
Raging hormones, aging parents and mouthy teenagers are just a few challenges that five baby boomer women are balancing—sometimes without much luck—as they go about their daily lives in a Philadelphia neighborhood.
Charlotte, once a high-powered art consultant, has been a stay-at-home mom for many years and is now questioning the efficacy of her choice. Kate left the corporate world long ago and immersed herself in her family—but now she’s rediscovering her entrepreneurial spirit. Marianna and Ginny are professionals who have become—more often than not—the envy of Charlotte and Kate, whose GPS systems are failing to help them find an on-ramp to worklife. The women come together to help their friend, Mimmi, who thought she had married for life, but has just discovered that her husband is having an affair with a “park-bench bimbo.”
The women rely on their walking group to offer support in dealing with many midlife issues, including health concerns, waning libidos, the empty nest, and finding energy for careers, exercise and sex. They reflect on how the “f-word”—feminism—has impacted their lives. These five friends journey through the joys and heartaches that accompany midlife mayhem, and together find companionship, laughter and the comfort of knowing that this is not their mothers’ menopause.
About the Author
DENISE HORNER MITNICK is an entrepreneur and management consultant. She earned a Master’s degree in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania. There she studied systems thinking and its impact on work/life balance perspectives and earned certificates in leadership and change management. She resides in suburban Philadelphia with her husband and is the mother of two college-aged daughters. This is her first novel.