With a master’s degree in the Classics, Lisette Schuitemaker started and sold her own communications agency and then obtained a BSc in Brennan Healing Science, working as a healer and coach. She is Chair of Trustees of the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland and a happily childless aunt of eleven. The author of The Childhood Conclusions Fix and co-author of The Eldest Daughter Effect, Lisette lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Introduction 7
Spring
Promise and Potential
1. The Dilemma
2. The Inner Film
3. Nieces and Nephews
4. A Positive Choice
5. Head, Heart, and Hormones
6. My Spring
7. Wanting a Different Life
8. The Parental Scale
9. Sign of the Times
10. The Birth of the Pill
11. Many Ways of Living
12. No Reasons Needed
13. Key Qualities: Unconventional and Autonomous
Summer
Growth and Action
14. Becoming Who We Are
15. Life Choices
16. Other Things to Do
17. When It Doesn’t Happen
18. A New Narrative
19. My Summer
20. The Selfish Question
21. Enough unto Ourselves
22. The Single Life
23. Finding New Friends
24. Aunting and Uncling
25. A Better Answer
26. Key Qualities: Self-Starting, Self-Directed, and Self-Sufficient
Autumn
Harvest and Reflection
27. Being Present
28. Wisdom Years
29. Our Parents Revisited
30. Thank You, Pioneers
31. My Autumn
32. A One-on-One Relationship
33. Children in Our Lives
34. The Big M
35. Taking Our Losses
36. The Issue of Regret
37. Time on Our Hands
38. Key Quality: Self-Fulfilling
Winter
Contemplation and Completion
39. A Life Worth Living
40. Leaving a Legacy
41. Our Will
42. Polar Opposites
43. Elder Orphans
44. My Winter
45. Getting Ready to Go
A List of Books
A Big Thank You
About the Author