A MOTHER SURVIVES “SURVIVOR”

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Unrelated Announcement, my new article: CAN SEPARATE BEDROOMS SAVE A MARRIAGE? Weigh In!

It wasn’t like I had a choice when, at the breakfast table, my then-21-year-old daughter Eliza presented me with documents to sign. The whole family had to swear to confidentiality or the plan was off for her to be a contestant on “Survivor.”

If I refused to sign, the plan  was off for her to continue being my daughter.  So I signed.

Her father, my ex-husband, reassured me “CBS makes too much money from the show to let anything happen to her.”

But I had seen the episode where a contestant fainted and fell forward while huffing to augment a campfire.  Cameras rolled as he lifted his face from burning logs with the skin hanging off his hands.

I tried to be excited for her.  After all, I would have applied for the likes of “Survivor” when I was her age.  But I kept thinking up things like What will happen to Eliza’s teeth if she goes six weeks without flossing?

The closest I ever got to TV fame occurred when I was 22, during a micro affair with Chuck Barris, creator of “The Dating Game.” He offered me a gig to go to Colorado Springs as a “Dating Game” chaperone. My training consisted of one instruction:  Make sure the girl doesn’t get pregnant.

Worry is relative.  My daughter’s 26-hour trip on three flights to get to her “Survivor” destination, including one on Air Vanuatu, would have been enough to make me go on a hunger strike.  But the idea of her starving on an island, one I’d never heard of, trumped the aviation rumination.

Thankfully it was pre-tsunami.

I got through it, perhaps calling on the same resources that help me worry less now that my daughters no longer live at home. Although they go out in cars and subways till all hours among drunks (themselves at times driving sleepy, which is the same as driving drunk), I can at least pretend they are snug in their beds when I turn off my bedside lamp at night.

How do you cope with worrying about your loved ones?

LOTS ABOUT MARRIAGE AND RELATIONSHIPS AND MY DAUGHTERS IN MY NEW MEMOIR . . .

Confessions of a Worrywart: Husbands, Lovers, Mothers, and Others                                                  CHECK IT OUT on Amazon.com, Kindle, and Smashwords

The perfect Valentine’s Day gift for worrywarts or anyone who would enjoy a “neurotic, hilarious, poignant” deeply personal story.

See also some of my Life Goes Strong posts:

*A Woman Talks About Sex From Her 20′s To Her 60′s (fascinating and relatable)

*Are You Having Less Sex Than You Think You Should? One Woman’s Story

*Hipster Dog Names and Quirky Dog Photos

*Joyce Maynard Adopted Two Girls From Ethiopia Then Gave Them Up

*A Great New Way to Date

*He Asked, “Am I Going To Die?” I Had To Tell Him, “Yes You Are.”

*Can Separate Bedrooms Save Or Destroy A Marriage?

*Family Vacation With My Ex 

And Survivor posts:

*Survivor Series 2012: Life Lessons From The Show Survivor

*Survivor Series 2012: The Importance of Personality

* Survivor Series 2012: Q&A with a Favorite Contestant for Winning Strategies

*Survivor Series 2012: Two Time Contestant Dishes

*Survivor Series 2012: Sex on the Island and More!

*Survivor Series 2012: Watching With Contestants

And holiday posts:

*How To Make A Sweet, Decorative Chocolate Candy House

*Home For The Holidays: Family Activities And Holiday Traditions With My Grown Children

*White House Christmas Decorations And Displays Of First Dog, Bo

*Top 7 Books To Give As Gifts And To Read

*Fun Last Minute Halloween Costumes

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