Mutha Magazine Article Allison May 2026

From a grandmother: “I’m 68. My husband died last year. And I just realized I have never, not once, asked myself what I want for dinner. I’m starting tonight.”

She is writing a book now. Not a parenting guide. A memoir about the year she stopped performing. She calls it The Unbecoming. The working tagline is: “What you lose when you stop being everything to everyone is not a tragedy. It’s a beginning.” mutha magazine article allison

A store employee in a blue vest crouched next to her. “Ma’am? Do you need me to call an ambulance?” From a grandmother: “I’m 68

It wasn’t a fight. It wasn’t a diagnosis. It wasn’t even a tantrum. I’m starting tonight

What Mutha understands—what Allison learned the hard way—is that motherhood is not primarily an emotional experience. It is a physical one. The body keeps the score.

From a woman in her book club: “I haven’t had an orgasm in four years because I am so touched out by 9 PM that I want to crawl out of my skin. Thank you.”