Chapter 9
I wrote a book.
About that night. About the slap. About saying no. About starting over at sixty-two. About healing. About love. About loss. About the strength of women who've been used and forgotten.
It was called "The Answer Is No."
It became a bestseller.
I went on talk shows. I gave speeches. I talked to women's groups. I told them: you are not a bank account. You are not a doormat. You are not required to give until there is nothing left. You can say no. And when you do — your life begins.
Women wrote to me. Thousands. They told me my book had saved them. Had given them the courage to leave. To say no. To fight. To live.
I cried reading those letters. I answered as many as I could.
One woman wrote: "My daughter-in-law slapped me at my granddaughter's birthday. I read your book. I left. I moved to a small apartment. I got my life back. Thank you."
I framed that letter too.
May you like
I was — a voice. For women like me. Women who'd been invisible. Who'd been used. Who'd been told they were "difficult" for having boundaries.
I was no longer invisible. I was loud. I was proud. I was Margaret Bennett. And I was just getting started.
