Windham mother and daughter-in-law collaborate to write family relationship book

By Ed Pierce

Through the years, jokes have perpetuated the stereotype that mothers-in-law can be overbearing and cause marriage friction, but two Windham women are disproving that notion and have written a new book for navigating this complex family relationship.

Wendy Satin Rapaport, left, and her 
daughter-in-law Teri Rapaport, both of
Windham, have co-authored a new book
called 'Advice From My Mother-In-Law
That I Actually WANT,' which contains
real-life stories, psychological insight,
and laugh-out-loud humor. The book
is available on Amazon, at Sherman's
Maine Coast Book Shop in Windham
and at On the Docks Gift Shop in
Windham, COURTESY PHOTO

Teri Rapaport and her mother-in-law Wendy Satin Rapaport came up with the idea for the book “Advice From My Mother-In-Law That I Actually WANT,” which is filled with real-life stories, psychological insight, and laugh-out-loud humor. Part conversation, part therapy, and all heart, the book tackles common challenges of family dynamics, including setting boundaries with empathy, communicating without judgment or resentment, bridging generational differences, creating connection through shared experiences, and healing old wounds and preventing new ones.

Dr. Wendy Satin Rapaport is a clinical psychologist, and Teri Rapaport works in the dental field in Portland.

They collaborated on the book to show that even with the challenges facing mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships and with associated inherent obstacles that connection, laughter, forgiveness, and empathy is possible in such relationships.

“We have had a happy relationship for 30 years,” said Wendy Satin Rapaport. “I have always enjoyed Teri and every time we had a conversation where she changed my mind, and I changed hers. We kept saying, oh we should write this up to inspire others.”

Teri Rapaport says her objective in writing the book was to show that having a great relationship with an in-law is possible.

“Not outlaw in-laws,” she said. “We honor each other’s differences.”

They said that they have worked on their relationship so that their family can benefit and grow with love and support.

“We joke that it is Pest Control. We are persistent and empathy, self-control, and tolerance are our themes that we want to share,” said Wendy Satin Rapaport. “It came to us naturally, but we do appreciate how hard it can be.”

Having taught at the University of Maine graduate school and performed social work for 30 years, Wendy Satin Rapaport and her husband have rented a home for the last five years at Little Sebago Lake in Windham. Teri and her husband Bruce have lived in Windham for 15 years on the opposite side of Little Sebago Lake and visit Wendy and her husband by boat.

It took them a complete year – summer to summer – to write the book while relaxing on the water of Little Sebago Lake on a pontoon boat, not to mention early mornings and late nights that they worked on copy corrections and wondered how the book would be perceived by readers.

“We know it’s not perfect, but it’s perfect enough for us,” they said. “Once we mastered the computer challenges of writing, we actually enjoyed ourselves and it was wonderful to label what we did naturally and then learn new methods for the things that we saw were bigger differences than we had realized. We became closer, laughed our way through the whole process because that is one of the key skills that we both naturally have and that we do believe can be learned by everybody.”

“Advice From My Mother-In-Law That I Actually WANT” is now available at Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop in Windham and at Sherman’s location across the state. On the Docks Gift Shop in Windham is also selling copies of the book with special bracelets featuring locked pinky fingers as a bracelet charm. The book’s cover shows Teri and Wendy Satin Rapaport connecting with pinky fingers while out boating on Little Sebago Lake. It’s also available on Amazon.

“The connecting pinkies shows us as connecting together as mother- and daughter-in-law, but also as friends and women,” Wendy Satin Rapaport said. <

Author details family’s triumph over alcoholism at Windham book signing

By Ed Pierce

In a journey that took almost four years from start to finish, Ed Crockett was able to express his struggle to overcome the challenges of his father’s struggles with alcoholism in his book “The Ghosts of Walter Crockett.” On July 23, the first-time author met readers during an appearance at a book-signing event at Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop in Windham.

Author Ed Crockett appeared at Sherman's Maine 
Coast Book Shop in Windham on July 23 to promote
his memoir "The Ghosts of Walter Crockett" about
his family's struggle to overcome their father's
alcoholism. Crockett was joined at the event by
his sister, Marie Elder of Windham.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE

Crockett, a state representative from Portland and the president of Capt’n Eli’s Soda Company, published the book last fall and it recounts his struggle to emerge from a childhood of poverty and welfare as his siblings tried to stay afloat while their father was wallowing in alcoholic despair. His sister, Marie Elder of Windham, also joined Crockett at the book signing and they discussed how so many people relate to this book as it ultimately is a story of love and redemption.

“When my father passed in 2012, he was the feature obituary in the Portland Press Herald. The first line said, "Walter Crockett the biggest drunk in Portland," Crockett said. “Although that was true it was not the full story and certainly not his true legacy. Nobody knew that at the time of his death my dad had been sober for more than 30 years or that he had saved lives through Alcoholics Anonymous.”

He said that in his sobriety, the family had joked that nobody would believe the father’s story unless it was on the big screen.

“Shortly after his death I was reminiscing about my father with my teenage son, Ted, and told him Grampy's life would make a great movie,” Crockett said. ‘He looked at me, the wisdom of a teenager, and said, "Dad, it will never happen unless you do it.’ Those two moments prompted me to start writing.”

Crockett said that putting his family’s story into words helped release him from a troubled past.

“Writing this book freed burdens that I didn't even know existed,” he said. “It was very cathartic. Sharing my feelings was the most challenging. I enjoy talking about my mom and dad, but myself, not so much.”

He had finished his original manuscript of “The Ghosts of Walter Crockett” in 2016 and presented it to his kids and family.

“They encouraged me to share it with friends. In 2019 one of those friends, who had published a few books, asked if he could pass it on to his publisher. I said, "Thank you," Crockett said.

According to Crockett, he started the process of telling this story by trying to write a screenplay.

“I quickly realized I didn't know what I was doing and decided to write down what was in my head chronologically, listing key moments in our lives that intertwined then expanding on those moments,” he said. “It was done on weeknights and weekends. I was working full-time plus trying to get our soda business flourishing.”

Since it’s publication, the feedback Crocket has received about his book has been tremendous.

“It’s been 100 percent appreciative and encouraging,” he said. “It's been incredibly humbling and heartwarming. Everyone has a story. The things my family dealt with are very common. How relatable it is, is the most frequent comment.”

Through his book which is available at Sherman’s, Crockett said he’d like everyone to know that we all have people in our lives that are in a bad place.

“There is always hope. Let's not ever give up on each other,” he said. “The reward is priceless.”

Crockett’s family supports his writing the book and through its publication, something else interesting has happened.

“I've met three first cousins that I didn't even know existed. That has been really cool,” he said.

Currently Crockett is promoting the book and says although he doesn’t have any plans to write another, he does have some ideas percolating.

He said now that the book has been published and you’ve had some time to reflect on the entire publishing process, he’s very happy with the result.

“My editor was extremely helpful organizing the story and improving its flow,” Crockett said. “Being a memoir there wasn't any content to change, but there were healthy discussions on what rose to the top due to space and size.” <