Rachel Levy Lesser
Rachel Levy Lesser
inherited the shopping gene from her
grandmother, aunt, and mother. She is a summa cum
laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and
received her MBA in marketing from the Ross School
of Business at the University of Michigan. Rachel
has worked in marketing for People, Teen People,
People En Español, Real Simple, Life, and
Sports Illustrated for Kids magazines. She is
currently the director of marketing at a strategic
marketing and design firm near Philadelphia. Rachel
lives in Yardley, Pennsylvania, with her husband,
Neil; son, Joey; and daughter, Rebecca. Rachel and
Rebecca can be found shopping at Baby Gap,
Bloomingdale’s, and everywhere in between. Visit
Rachel online at
http://shoppingforlovebook.com
"In this delightful book, shopping becomes a metaphor
for the journey through life during which generations of
one family meet and celebrate life's milestones and
learn to face the inevitable grief of loss."
Paula Deitz, Editor, The Hudson
Review
"This humorous and heartfelt memoir will immediately
draw you in, and you’ll be smiling through your tears
until finishing that last page. Rachel Levy Lesser is a
wonderfully gifted storyteller; this tale will run like
a movie through your mind. It reminds us of what is most
precious in our lives, and gives the gift of true
appreciation of sharing treasured moments with those we
love."
Melanie C. Kaplan, LSW Program
Coordinator, Gilda’s Club Delaware Valley
PageOneLit.com: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part
of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?
Rachel Levy Lesser: I grew up in Yardley,
Pennsylvania (which is actually where I live now.) I moved back here 5
years ago to be near my family when my mother was sick. In between, I
lived in Philadelphia, London, New York City and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Reading and writing have always been a big part of my life. I read all
of the time as a little girl. My parents always told me to put the books
down and go to bed when I used to stay up late at night with a flash
light. I learned to enjoy writing in high school. I went to The
Lawrenceville School where I had the opportunity to read countless books
and write just as many papers on all sorts of topics. My favorite book,
which I read in the 9th grade was Pride and Prejudice. Another classic
and one of my all time favorites is To Kill a Mockingbird.
PageOneLit.com: Why do you write?
Rachel Levy Lesser: I write to get the thoughts
out of my head and onto paper. I write to tell others what I know so
that perhaps they can learn from my experiences as I have learned from
so many others over the years.
PageOneLit.com: Briefly discuss your new book SHOPPING FOR LOVE? What
are some of the metaphors that 'shopping' represents in your life
journey?
Rachel Levy Lesser: I wrote SHOPPING FOR LOVE
when I was experiencing painful grief soon after the death of my mother.
She was 57 when she died, and I was 30. I wanted to tell her story and
our story and I felt that I could do this through writing about our
shopping trips together. Shopping did become a metaphor for the way we
lived our lives as we always met together to shop in times of joy and
times of sorrow. When I shopped with my mother, aunt and grandmother, we
could freely talk about anything that was on our minds and we could tell
each other anything. But more than that, shopping was time spent
together. I now treasure all of that precious time. Shopping represented
being together, planning special occasions and what events we could look
forward to in the future.
PageOneLit.com: Describe the bonds formed with your late mother while
shopping during her battle with cancer.
Rachel Levy Lesser: When
shopping with my mother while she was sick, we were often able to
discuss issues that would not come up in other every day events.
Shopping for clothes meant that we needed these things for the future
and in my mother's case, her future was very uncertain as she was living
with aggressive, metastatic melanoma. I was often able to pick out an
outfit for her, give her a big smile and a hug and show her that I, too
had hope that she would have a future. Shopping also gave us the time to
spend together away from other people and other distractions so that we
could focus on each other.
PageOneLit.com: In SHOPPING FOR LOVE you write "I have a little girl to
shop for, but no one left to shop for me." Explain.
Rachel Levy Lesser: I feel so much the
bittersweetness of life during the wonderful times I have with my
daughter, Rebecca. She was born a year and half after my mother died and
she was named for my mother, Becky. Practically every time, I look at
her, I see my mother's bright blue eyes in hers. I also see the joy that
my mother would have gotten from her and vice versa. My mother was a
real "girl's girl." She would have loved to take her shopping, sing
songs with her, laugh with her and just be with her. The three of us
could have had so much fun together. I feel so blessed to have this
amazing daughter and I see how the life cycle goes on with her, but it
is also so hard to know that I am no longer my mother's little girl -
that my mother is missing out on all of the goodness of me and my
daughter and that I am now the mother not the daughter.
PageOneLit.com: SHOPPING FOR LOVE is a wonderfully written memoir -- Was
this a difficult book to write or therapeutic?
Rachel Levy Lesser: It was so very therapeutic
for me to write SHOPPING FOR LOVE. The words and stories poured out onto
the pages. Writing this book helped me so much in dealing with the
tragic loss of my mother at a relatively young age. As I put the words
to paper, I could hear my mother's voice and I knew as one of her oldest
friends said that "her wonderful story would be immortalized." It was
only after the book's publication that I came to know how therapeutic
this process would really be. I have heard from so many people living
with cancer, people who lost loved ones to cancer, people who knew my
mother, people who wished they knew her, people who love to shop with
family members, people who simply love their mothers and that has been
so rewarding and fulfilling.
PageOneLit.com: In SHOPPING FOR LOVE you write after buying a pair of
shoes you put them away because "they would always remind you of a sad
day." Explain.
Rachel Levy Lesser: I put the shoes away
thinking I would never wear them because my mother bought them for me on
a day where she was so sick from her chemotherapy treatments and the
tumors in her body. I thought the shoes would always make me sad - even
when I just looked at them. Now over 4 years after my mother's death, I
find the opposite to be true. I often wear the shoes and I smile knowing
that my mother picked them out herself. I feel like she is with me on
the days that I wear them as I do on other occasions when I wear her
jewelry, carry a pocketbook of hers or wear one of her scarves. It makes
me feel closer to her.
PageOneLit.com: What did you learn from writing SHOPPING FOR LOVE?
Rachel Levy Lesser: I have learned so
much. I have learned that anything is possible if you set your mind to
it and that people are always more than willing to help. As I alluded to
before, I've learned that writing can be so very healing and an
excellent way to work through pain and grief. I've learned that I write
best about what I know. I've learned that others can and have learned
from my mother's story and I am so happy to know that is has an will
continue to help people. I've learned that all different kinds of people
can relate to other people's stories on many different levels.
PageOneLit.com: What's next?
Rachel Levy Lesser: I am writing a short
story about the days that my children were born. I also have journals of
thoughts for new books. One that I am trying to work through right now
is about the change in family dynamics after a loved one dies. This is
something that had not been explored that much particularly in the way
that I am exploring it. I am also planning events to promote this book
including some on using writing as a healing tool.
PageOneLit.com: What was the last book you read?
Rachel Levy Lesser: The Middle Place by Kelly
Corrigan. It's a memoir about a young woman and her struggle with breast
cancer while her father fought cancer as well. It examines that "middle
place" where you are someone's parent but sill feel like someone's
child. I think we all feel thus struggle at some point in our lives. I
do now even though my mother is gone.
PageOneLit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they
enhance your writing?
I enjoy practicing yoga, taking long walks, reading and spending time
with close family and friends. All of these activities help in my
writing. Time spent with my friends and with my husband and kids gives
me lots of material for writing. Reading is certainly a great thing to
do. I pick up things in all of my reading. Yoga and walks allow me to
clear my head. In fact, the idea for SHOPPING FOR LOVE came to me in a
long walk a took a few months after my mother died.
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