Awakening: How a 53 Year Old Wife and Mother ”Became” a Lesbian

At first glance, Pat Stone was the picture of conservative womanhood. She married at the tender age of eighteen, settling into a quiet life as a housewife and mother of two. She was content to shelve her college degree and career possibilities in favor of carpools and scout meetings. But in 1989, when her daughter came out as a lesbian, Stone surprised many by not only embracing her child's disclosure but by becoming a dedicated activist for gay rights. As a founder of the Dallas chapter of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Stone won numerous awards for her work in the gay community. Then, at the age of fifty-three and after thirty-five years of marriage, she stunned her friends and family by revealing that she too was a lesbian. Surprisingly, Awakening isn't a memoir about the "otherness" inherent in homosexuality. Rather, by sharing her struggles with self-image and relationships, Stone illustrates the universality of many of life's greatest experiences.