A Woman Makes a Plan

Advice for a Lifetime of Adventure, Beauty, and Success 

The international supermodel Maye Musk shares personal stories and lessons learned from a life of "living dangerously--carefully"
Maye Musk is a fashionable, charming, jet-setting supermodel with a fascinating and tight-knit circle of family and friends--and is 71 years old. But things were not always so easy or glamorous--she became a single mom at 31, struggling through poverty to provide for her three children; dealt with weight issues as a plus-size model and overcame ageism in the modeling industry; and established a lifelong career as a respected dietitian, all the while starting over in eight different cities across three countries and two continents. But she made her way through it all with an indomitable spirit and a no-nonsense attitude to become a global success at what she calls the "prime of her life."
As everyone who follows her obsessively on social media knows, Maye is a fount of frank and practical advice on how the choices you make in every decade can pay off in surprising, exciting ways throughout your life.

 In  A Woman Makes a Plan, Maye shares experiences from her life conveying hard-earned wisdom on career (the harder you work, the luckier you get), family (let the people you love go their own way), health (there is no magic pill), and adventure (make room for discovery, but always be ready for anything). You cant control all that happens in life, but you can have the life you want at any age. All you have to do is make a plan.

Author : Maye Musk

Maye Musk is perhaps best-known as the mother of “real-life Iron Man" Elon Musk. However, she is a fascinating person in her own right. Maye has lived an extraordinary and wondrous life after overcoming countless obstacles and challenges. Beneath all the glory lies her courage to escape from a terrible situation, her tenacity to live every day to its fullest, and her independent  mindset  and determination. In her golden years, Maye narrates the details of her legendary life in A Woman Makes a Plan and reminds us that age is just a number.

A Woman Makes a Plan | Quotes

My advice is to be kind to others, listen to others, and be upbeat. Don’t start talking about your miserable life. Show confidence, respect, interest in others, and smile; that will make you fascinating.

If at the moment you feel as though you don’t have any talents, go to a time in the past when you felt confident about some aspect of your life.

The “secret” to health is eating more fruits and vegetables and whole grains and legumes and dairy, and eating what you enjoy, in small portions, when you are hungry.

The physiology here is that all your energy goes to digesting food, and you have little energy for the rest of your body. When you are eating well, you have a lot more energy.

When you have good eating habits, you have more energy and feel fantastic, but it takes time and persistence. That was the basis of my nutrition counseling.

Overview | Chapter 1  A Woman Makes A Plan:

Advice for a Lifetime of Adventure, Beauty, and Success, an autobiography by Maye Musk. Many people may not be familiar with Maye Musk; but you have probably heard of her son, Elon – the founder of Tesla, the world-renowned electric car and clean energy company that even sent a car into space. Elon Musk is known as the "real-life Iron Man" and has publicly stated numerous times that his mother is his hero. He attributes his success to her and the way she has nurtured and influenced him. However, Maye is much more than just Elon Musks mother. Beyond this label, she is a fascinating and independent woman in her own right, and her life journey has been nothing short of legendary. Born in Canada, Maye immigrated to South Africa with her parents when she was only 2 years old. She became a model at fifteen, won a beauty pageant at twenty-one, and got married at twenty-two. After discovering her husbands infidelity and suffering many episodes of domestic violence, she divorced her husband at the age of thirty-one. As a single mother with three children to raise, she juggled school and work after the divorce, and eventually obtained two masters degrees in nutrition to become a professional dietitian. When her three kids grew up and left home, Maye decided to return to the modeling industry at nearly 50 years old. She was not afraid of aging and dared to reveal her true self. Her iconic silver hair and sheer self-confidence helped her gain popularity and eventually become a world-renowned supermodel in her golden years. Just like that, Maye, who has never shied away from pressing the “restart” button, became the master of her own destiny. For this reason, she has become an inspiration and an idol to many women all around the world. What personal stories does she share about herself and her journey in her autobiography? Next, we will explore her book through the following three parts: Part One: The carefree early years; Part Two: The solo and independent years; Part Three: The fearless later years.

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The carefree early years | Chapter 2

Maye Haldeman Musk was born in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1948. Her father, Joshua Haldeman, was an American who moved to Regina to be a chiropractor. Her mother, Winnifred, was born in a small Canadian town and also moved to Regina to start her own business. Joshua fell in love with Winnifred at first sight when they were learning ballroom dancing. When they first married, they were not very well off. In their wedding photos, their clothes were drab and dull, and Winnifred’s wedding dress was actually homemade. The early financial problems did not affect the growth of the family. In Regina, they had four children, among whom Maye and her twin sister are the youngest. Their home was always full of laughter and happiness. Maye fondly remembers her father piloting the plane to take the family away on vacation. The year Maye was born, her parents acquired a Bellanca aircraft. It was their second plane, and her father would frequently fly the whole family out to see different places in Canada. When Maye was only three months old, her father flew them to the United States for a conference. Fearless and unwilling to live by the rules, Joshua was a born adventurer. In 1950, Maye’s parents left Canada for South Africa after they heard South African missionaries talking about the beautiful scenery there. They originally planned to move to Johannesburg, a major city where most people spoke English as their first language. However, when the plane flew over the mostly Afrikaans-speaking Pretoria, Joshua fell in love with the city covered by jacaranda trees and decided to land here. They were blown away by the beauty of Pretoria, and after settling down in their new home, her father resumed the family custom of traveling the world by plane. He would fly over neighboring countries along the coast of Africa and across the ocean to Asia and back. Whenever he brought the family to a new destination, he would spray-paint the name of the place on the wings of the plane. During those years, the family traveled to sixty countries. In an era before the GPS, one can only imagine how challenging and adventurous these journeys were. This free-spirited lifestyle seemed wild to the local South Africans, who labeled the family as "crazy Americans." However, such comments never affected Mayes father. He would follow his heart without being influenced by the opinions of others. While Maye’s father was an explorer, her mother was an artist with a natural talent for art. Winnifred received professional dance training in her early years and exceled at the performing arts. Thanks to her mother, Maye had been exposed to the modeling industry at an early age. At the time, a family friend happened to own a modeling school in South Africa. The friend invited Maye and her twin sister to the school for a visit, where they ended up receiving formal modeling training. Unexpectedly, Maye found it interesting and gained some professional modeling experience. Later, the owner began to arrange job opportunities for her, usually on Saturdays, when she would either walk runway shows at the department store or take print modeling jobs. Being a model was a very profitable activity for Maye, and she was surprised by how high her first salary was. At first, she could not really understand why going to a place, putting on a dress, and taking a few steps around the room could get her so much money. Although the industry was lucrative, she knew that this was just a temporary activity. She never dreamed of being a model, and instead set her sights on attending a prestigious university. Under the advice of her family, Maye chose to study nutrition at the University of Pretoria. The subject is closely related to medicine, and she studied how people can regulate their food intake to become healthier. When she first entered university, Maye focused entirely on her studies. In her mind, she would never revisit the modeling industry again, and her previous career was just an interesting episode in her life. She was certain that she would graduate from university and embark on a profession within her field in the future. In her third year of college, a classmate told Maye out of the blue that he planned to nominate her as the "Vaal Queen." Maye did not know what that meant. Her classmate explained that it was a beauty contest and encouraged her to participate. Although competing in a beauty pageant seemed like an unrealistic fantasy to her, the courageous young woman did so anyway. Perhaps it was due to the influence of her family; after all, her father Joshua also lived an adventurous life. Like father like daughter, Maye was irresistibly drawn to the unknown. In this regard, she indeed takes after her father. On the day of the pageant, Maye did her own styling and makeup, and went up on stage with a fun and casual attitude. Amazingly, she won the competition and the prize of 100 rand, which was equivalent to 150 US dollars at the time. She also signed a contract with a modeling agency in Johannesburg and received the opportunity to take a modeling course for free. That was how she started modeling professionally as a side career. As for her main career, Maye accepted an offer from a food company in Cape Town to work as a nutritional expert after graduating from university. At the age of twenty-one, she left her family and hometown for the first time.

The solo and independent years | Chapter 3

Not long after she started working, Maye quit her job and got married. To better understand the story behind her marriage, let us go back to when she was sixteen. At that time, she met a boy named Errol Musk. He was smart, studious, and very good at mathematics. Maye was extremely attracted to him, and the two had an on-and-off relationship for several years. During the beauty pageant, she found out that Errol was cheating on her. Needless to say, she was devastated. She cried every day and lost ten pounds in a short period of time. To her surprise, after she started working, Errol reappeared in her life and proposed to her with an engagement ring. She turned him down firmly. However, the impulsive Errol went to see her parents without her knowledge and told them that she had accepted his marriage proposal. In South Africa at the time, it was common for men to ask a woman’s father for her hand. When Joshua heard from Errol that Maye had accepted the proposal, he also approved of it. Unfortunately, she was away in Cape Town on business at the time and unaware of what had happened at home. Long-distance calls were exceedingly expensive at that time, and her family did not even know that she had actually rejected the proposal. When Maye received a telegram asking her to come home for her wedding in a month, she was shocked. Errol certainly picked the right time. She was feeling lonely due to some back injuries, and weight gain from overeating also lowered her self-confidence. She did not think anyone would be interested in her as she was. In a haze of uncertainty, Maye Haldeman married Errol Musk and became Maye Musk. It did not take long for her illusions about Errol and their marriage to start shattering. On their wedding night, the couple flew to Europe for their honeymoon. Errol was completely broke and had no savings, so Maye covered all the expenses with her savings from her previous job. To cut down on their expenses, they booked the cheapest flight and stayed with Errol’s cousin in Switzerland. While Maye cleaned the house, Errol just sat on the couch, engrossed in a stack of Playboy magazines. She did all the housework, and he did not lift a finger to help. It was during the honeymoon that Errol started hitting her. To prevent her from leaving, he took her passport. Maye could not go anywhere even if she tried to escape. Soon, Maye found out that she was pregnant. That was when she realized that she had made a grave, irreversible mistake. Although her belly grew by the day, her husband did not seem to care. She still had to take care of everything within and outside of their home, right up to when the baby was due. It was only when her contractions were five minutes apart that Maye was taken to the hospital. When the nurse asked her husband to rub her back to relieve her pain, he flew into a rage and stormed out of the hospital. Maye gave birth to a healthy 9-pound baby, whom she named Elon. The year was 1971, and Maye was only twent

The fearless later years | Chapter 4

Maye’s career gradually became stable and fruitful. A decade after the divorce, the 41-year-old finally had a beautiful house to call her own and no longer needed to worry about her life. Just then, Elon wanted to move to Canada to pursue his interest in computers, as there were more opportunities for career development there. Tosca supported her brothers suggestion and wanted to live in another country. However, at the time, Maye had already been admitted to the University of Cape Town for her PhD. Nevertheless, she promised her children that she would visit Canada in person to scope it out. She visited five provinces in Canada, interviewed at the local modeling agencies, and became interested in a scientific research position at the University of Toronto. She discovered that moving to Canada was not only feasible, but also a good idea. After three weeks, she returned to South Africa, satisfied with her findings. Her younger son Kimbal had to stay in South Africa to complete his studies, and Maye moved to Toronto with Elon and Tosca. However, things did not go according to plan. Under the regulations at the time, the South African government froze all their assets after they left, and they were not allowed to take more than 2,000 US dollars in cash out of the country. Although Maye had established a stable foothold in South Africa by then and was finally financially secure, she became a pauper once again upon arrival in Toronto. The trio had to start from scratch once more. After several setbacks, they managed to find a one-bedroom apartment for rent. Maye and Tosca shared the bedroom, while Elon slept on the couch. After securing accommodations for her children, Maye took the local examination to become a registered dietician. She wanted to start her nutritional consultation practice and get to know the Canadian market. At the same time, she contacted a modeling agency and began looking for jobs as an older model. Moving to another country is always challenging. During their early days in Toronto, Maye and her kids faced a tricky situation. Since they did not have any credit history in the country, the bank did not approve their credit card application. Without a credit card, they could not build a credit score and had no way to rent a car or an office. They were trapped in a catch-22. What could they do to resolve this? A kind-hearted friend mentioned to Maye that she could apply for a store card at a department store, as the conditions for application are relatively more lenient. With the card, it was possible to build a credit history under their names. Maye visited a large, upscale shopping mall in Toronto, but the staff rejected her application after she told them her intentions. They explained that they had no way of ensuring that she could make the payments on time. Coincidentally, there was a Mothers Day poster on the office wall, and the model on the poster happened to be her. As it turns out, she had once modeled for this mall.

Summary & Review | Chapter 5

At this point, we have come to the end of Maye Musk’s story. Although her autobiography is entitled A Woman Makes A Plan, for most of her younger years, her life did not go according to plan. Being trapped in a hellish marriage was not part of her plan; raising three children by herself was not part of her plan; being forced to settle in an unfamiliar environment in Canada was not part of her plan. Nevertheless, she managed to take charge of her own life. The secret is to have the will to start over. In her thirties, she decided to start over by becoming a single mom and rebuilding her modeling career. In her forties and fifties, she left behind a comfortable life in South Africa, moved to Canada and the United States for her children, and started over with them, multiple times. After turning 60, even though her children have all achieved remarkable successes of their own, she refuses to retire. Instead, she continues to rely on her own efforts and pursue her dreams. Maye’s life can be described as a journey of starting over. She has tried and failed repeatedly, and then tried again until she succeeded. Her determination extends far beyond her role as the mother of Elon Musk; she is an independent woman who lives by her own rules. In her book, she writes that there is no “one size fits all” solution for one’s health, career, or life. “You have to kiss a lot of frogs before one turns into a prince.” These words reveal the true reason for her success: make a plan, keep trying, and never be afraid to fail. After listening to this bookey, we hope Maye’s life story can encourage and inspire you on the personal journey ahead

Mediterranean diet

is a diet of a type traditional in Mediterranean countries, characterized especially by a high consumption of vegetables and olive oil and moderate consumption of protein, and thought to confer health benefits. "researchers found that people who eat a Mediterranean diet have lower odds of having a heart attack"

Flexitarian diet

is a flexible eating style that emphasizes the addition of plant or plant-based foods and beverages, incorporates dairy and eggs and encourages meat to be consumed less frequently and/or in smaller portions. There are no set calorie or macronutrient goals in a flexitarian diet

The DASH diet

is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy foods.

 It includes meat, fish, poultry, nuts, and beans, and is limited in sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, red meat, and added fats. In addition to its effect on blood pressure, it is designed to be a well-balanced approach to eating for the general public.

Sugar and natural sweeteners provide our bodies with calories that are either used as energy or stored as fat.

Artificial sweeteners do not provide calories and are either broken down into a number of compounds, or not broken down at all.The term "artificial sweetener" refers to a substance that has been chemically made to mimic sugar. The more commonly known sugar substitutes fall into this category:

aspartame  saccharin  sucralose

These are zero calorie sweeteners and are many times sweeter than table sugar. Artificial sweeteners are found in many "sugar free" products like soda. These sweeteners are also used in lower calorie desserts and other foods

Natural sweeteners

 include honey, agave nectar, maple syrup and other forms of sugar Natural sweeteners and table sugar are both broken down into glucose and fructose during digestion, meaning there is no scientific evidence that the form of sugar found in natural sweeteners is any better than table sugar.

So which sweetener should we be choosing—sugar, artificial sweeteners or natural sweeteners? Many get so caught up in this question that they miss the point. Ideally, the majority of your foods and beverages should not contain added sweeteners of any kind.

Heres the bottom line: While all of these options are safe to consume in moderation, most of your diet should consist of foods with no added sweeteners—foods such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, dairy and water.

Questions:

1.      after reading this book, what is the most important thing in life planning as a modern woman or man?

silver is the new blond, life keeps getting better, think bright, do right! 67 still shine on the runway show. Maye start her model career at 15, over 18 is the sunset for the model. She makes her own legend! 71 still in her prime. Never slow down, may yourself like speeding bullet. Keep smiling, eating well, happy and confident!

2.      What kind of woman do you think is the most attractive?

Maye Musk just became the newest face of CoverGirl at age 69. “Beauty is for all ages,” Musk wrote on Twitter as she announced the news. You are your own opportunity to create the mission impossible. Learn quicker, suffer less.’ I knew that I could do better. I knew that it was not my age or my looks standing in my way.” Enduring to change her dress in the tiny cubicle with just a little bite of bagel even just for an inexpensive runway show. She is so great to break the social judgement for aging with courage to face it and find way out. To accept your true color, and the world will accept you later.

3. What is the most important role women have to play in parenting?

“It’s better to be interesting than to be beautiful.” Beautiful is not prerequisite. Maye was coming for a beauty campaign. she was hilarious, because having grown up in South Africa, she was accustomed to people being very self-deprecating. It makes her more interesting. In America talks about being beautiful. In South Africa, you are more valued as a woman if you’re intelligent and interesting and have a good sense of humor. rather than your outer look.

 “Be kind and upbeat and confident!”

“You don’t have to be good at everything, but you need to be good at something.”

 “People are more receptive to you when you behave properly, and it’s more impressive than being loud and rambunctious and jumping all around.” Great manner like wind, cheer others up gracefully!

4.Do you agree that if you are very unhappy in a relationship, you should end the relationship as soon as possible？

Dont need to carry stinky rats with you for the rest of your life. Be our own boss!

Post your own portrait on your own billboard!

5. What is a healthy diet? Do you agree with Maye’s healthy diet suggestion?

The best diets to follow to keep your body and mind healthy include the DASH diet, Mediterranean diet, and the Flexitarian diet.

6.As a woman, do you think that wearing a make up is necessary ? Why?

“You don’t have to be stylish; just find a stylish friend” It takes you a village to make you look glam and stylish.” Julia could help her with her wardrobe as a style consult and she gave her a nutrition consultation in exchange. Before Julia, she didn’t fully understand how to put herself together for maximum impact.

Make up can change our mood. But to make up makes me feel dump. Maye enjoy painting her plain and drab face into a work of art. When she is at home, there’s no makeup, just clean skin and lip balm. She doesn’t wear makeup when she’s running errands with her dog, or on her computer during the day, or picking up her grandchildren from school. For me, I enjoy clean skin and lip balm all the time.” If you’re skipping sun precautions, you’re asking for troubles.” “The best decision a person can make is to protect their skin in the sun, like wearing a hat and using sunscreen.” So far I can do is to use sunscreen and ware a hat.

7.what have you learned from this book? What chapter do you like the most and what influence you and want to make a change?

Chapter 6 ,16,17,18,21

(1)   Life is a journey filled with adventure, but you have start with the first step:

Her mothers family had immigrated to Canada from England, Her father’s family had emigrated from Switzerland to Philadelphia. Her father was born in Minnesota, her parents met just after the Great Depression. The Canadian Depression was a terrible time, when people were lining up and begging for food and basic medical care for their children. Desperate to survive, they often leaned on the barter system. Her dad had studied chiropractic medicine in Davenport. Iowa. He broke in horses in exchange for room and board, and gave chiropractic adjustments in exchange for food. Her mother was only sixteen. She worked at the Moose Jaw Times-Herald, one of only two people left on staff, and she kept her job only because she was the lowest-paid staff member. Her family survived on her small weekly wage.

In her twenties, she was trained to become a dancer and traveled to Chicago,New York, and Vancouver to study dance and dramatics.

Can you imagine the long train journey she took as a single woman in that era? That is adventurous!

After the Depression, both of my parents moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, and opened businesses. My father opened a chiropractic practice. My mother started a dance school.

My father came for a ballroom dance lesson. He liked her very much and asked her out to dinner.

    She said, “I don’t date my clients.” So he canceled his lessons and asked her to go to dinner again. She said yes.

Her father saw a plane sitting in a farmer’s field with a FOR SALE sign. He did not have any cash, but he did have the car they were driving. So he exchanged the car for the plane,

Her father was magnificent. He was fearless and adventurous, and they trusted him completely. He was a great man who taught by example. He was a gentle giant who never talked much.

In 1950, her parents decided to move away from Canada. They met missionaries who had been to South Africa, who had told them how beautiful it was. So they packed up the plane, the 1948 Cadillac, all of them and their belongings, and off they went on a cargo ship for two months to Africa.

Plan for the expected, and be ready for the unexpected!

(2)Male bees finish their lives after mating, and female bees take on the   responsibility of breeding. Maye is the greatest female bee, not only breed the babies and set up a great role model to be outstanding.

(3) WOMAN AT WORK: The harder you work, the luckier you get

(4) ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT:Persistence leads to success

(5) If you are disappointed, go in a different direction. If you were dumped or didn’t get that job, forget about it and keep going. If you’re rejected for a home mortgage, keep working to improve your credit rating.

(6)The world makes such a fuss about romantic relationships, but what about friendships?

8. What do you think that why Maye can have an extraordinary Life?

“As a model, I get rejected nine times out of ten. why you are losing your confidence. Many women aren’t confident. They feel they have to be good at everything, they have been beaten down by people criticizing them, or they’re taking on too much and cannot succeed at everything. Practice doing what you’re good at, and don’t try to be the best at everything.” She choose what she like and enjoy keeping the best.

“Feeling down all the time is not a way to live. You need to surround yourself with family, friends, and colleagues who appreciate you for who you are. That will make you walk really tall and with confidence.” Never lose your confidence, if you lost it, just go back to the people who love you and whom you love. Fill the energy again and keep your chin up!

(Shannon)

Dear all

I’m submitting my homework.

See you gals and Clive remotely soon later.

Questions:

1. after reading this book, what is the most important thing in life planning as a modern woman or man?

—> To live a goal-oriented life while remaining flexible is crucial. As Maye pointed out, we shall plan for expected and get ready for unexpected.

2. What kind of woman do you think is the most attractive?

—> I would admire and appeal to Intelligent, independent, and witty women with love and wisdom.

3. What is the most important role women have to play in parenting?

—> Aside from being a care-giver, which can be performed with aid of others, such as a nanny, a mother will have to guide their children and teach by example, allowing their children to make decisions independently.

4.Do you agree that if you are very unhappy in a relationship, you should end the relationship as soon as possible？

—> I totally agree to it. People make mistakes and we better make them right while we still have a chance.

5. What is a healthy diet? Do you agree with Maye’s healthy diet suggestion?

—> There is no “ one size fits all” diet. Everyone is a unique individual in the universe, so everyone deserves a unique way in eating healthily. From my perspective, vegetables and fruit are definitely the ace in diets. However, one can ease up on eating and indulging in some gourmet but unhealthy diets if one is happy, and just remember to exercise or try best to remain active in life to balance out the excess calories taken in.

6.As a woman, do you think that wearing a make up is necessary ? Why?

—> Though I believe in natural beauty, I have to confess I love my own face more while it wears a natural shade of makeup since it simply radiates and shines more than my nude skin. Being able to shine is a way to make myself and people around me smile.

7.what have you learned from this book? What chapter do you like the most and what influence you and want to make a change?

—> I like Chapter One when Maye talked about how her modeling career was stagnated by a big agency, which simply not sending her out to castings at all. She mentioned when the agency failed to represent her, she needed to have a plan to get herself out. It is the very determination that I need to learn, to get out a dire situation as soon as possible by acting rationally and wisely just as she carefully examined the contract first and found out the representation was only limited to the New York area. After reaching out to other regions than New York, she became popular with many agencies, proving her own worth and then successfully terminated her contract with the incumbent agency. This reminds me the tactics for negotiation. I just experienced a fraudulent sale of a Mercedes Benz car in Bellevue (Seattle area) last week. That’s a complicated story. Anyway after I found I was deceived by the sales associate, I gathered information online and luckily I had recorded the conversation while the associate was introducing the car, which proved him lying and was contradictory to the information on the vehicle printed on documents I received after paying and owning the car. Citing some legal clause about salespersons’ lies being a crime. I successfully negotiated an exchange plus an extended warranty with Mercedes Benz of Bellevue.  I think somehow the negotiation tactics I lectured at National Sun Yat-sen University has been internalized into part of my communication caliber. However I’m actually a simply-minded person that believes in people easily; therefore I’ll have to learn from Maye for this determination and reasoning mind while I’m seeking art representations in the future.

8. What do you think that why Maye can have an extraordinary Life?

—> I would owe it to her upbringings, which her parents bestowed on her. Her parents raised her in an extraordinary way that made her self-reliant, brave and adventurous. Being able to travel extensively, especially across borders and continents, is a way to escalate cultural competence and survival tenacity, through which one can be formidable enough to take on any  challenges and obstacles.

April Book Club Report.(Consultant Clive)

Maye Musk, “A Woman Makes a Plan”

This month’s book was a mostly a light read with inspiring messages that tug on the heart. Gloria led us on a journey about the challenges of being a woman and a mother and finding your way in the world.  Maye Musk’s book “A Woman Makes a Plan” is brief yet potent in revealing personal struggles, and how she saved her own life.  Perhaps this is the area that resonated with the members and participants.  Gloria helped us to navigate the Maye Musk story.  Maye Musk is a down to earth single working mother who plainly tells her hard knocks life story. Maye was raised by globally adventurous parents who expected her & siblings to be responsible and independent at a very early age.  Many of the members responded to this idea of being strong and independent.  Faye shared her own story with us of a marriage of her marriage of over fifty years and Florence shared that many of the terrible events discussed in the group and the book happened to her own daughter.  Very sobering! 

Maye single parented with love and a passion for continuous improvement. Today, Maye Musk’s children are living proof of her example: you are the master of your own thoughts and your destiny and we had the chance to discuss the children of the group and how they were able to raise remarkable, compassionate and caring children.  Maye’s three grown children have unfurled their own courageous lives by publicly inviting us to adventure with them at: Tesla & SpaceX, PassionFlix, The Kitchen & Big Green.

It was no small feat that Maye Musk raised three responsible independent children while earning advanced college degrees in Nutritional Sciences, and while working as a fashion model to help pay for college and later working in the nutrition field. I think it was clear that Maye’s story was one that resonated with Gloria and Shannon and also with Lydia and Florence.  After the lively debate today it is fair to say we all can salute Maye Musk for sharing her personal story of steering through the ups and downs of single parenting. I thank her for her years of dedication to nurture kind independent thinking responsible children who’ve become adventurously productive adults making big contributions in our daily lives.  It’s a good takeaway: to respect children’s interests and allow them enough freedom and responsibility to make their own decisions in life and to always have an escape plan.  A huge thank you to Lily for being our technical genius and of course MingLe and Shannon for staying up and sharing and to all the members who participated today.  Of course a huge thank you to Gloria who went to enormous effort to summarize and harness the many opinions into a lively discussion of Maye’s book.