Growing up with Doris: And Still Alive to Tell the Tale - Paperback

by Leslie Ann Breen (Author)

Growing Up with Doris...And Still Alive to Tell the Tale Is a humorous memoir about growing up in the 60s and 70s with a single mother with an undiagnosed ADHD disorder. Written by her daughter Leslie, the book chronicles what it was like living with Doris, a mom who had a knack in the kitchen but lacked a 10 second delay mechanism on her actions that caused life never to be dull or boring for her children. "She was a mother who marched to the beat of a different drummer, and if she thought it, she said it --- without a filter," says Leslie. Growing Up with Doris never sways from Doris' true calling as a mother, which involved feeding her family, her children's playmates and a convent full of Notre Dame nuns. For anyone growing up in those eventful decades, Growing Up with Doris is an honest, endearing, and humorous account of a funny, one-of-a-kind mother whose wit, dedication, and tenacity is an inspiration on making the best of what life deals you. While writing the memoir, Leslie saw a theme emerging, mainly around food, so she decided to write a companion cookbook with her mother featuring 140 family recipes. The cookbook, Cooking with Doris B. is ideal for anyone beginning to cook or experienced in the kitchen.

Author Biography

Leslie Breen is a daughter, wife, mother, nurse practitioner, and writer. After surviving a stroke at age thirty-seven, Breen dreamt of one day writing a book about her unconventional mother, and introducing the world to Doris. For seventeen years, Breen worked as a full time nurse practitioner while writing her memoir and a companion cookbook. While recovering from a brain aneurism in 2007, Breen finished the journey and self-published her two books. Breen dreams of one day writing full-time. Her life and that dream go on.