Allison Raskin

1 week ago | emotionalsupportlady.substack.com | Allison Raskin

I had my first positive pregnancy test on April 6. The line was so faint, I had a hard time believing it was true. My husband, an innate optimist, immediately started celebrating while I tried to temper my expectations. After all, there are few things less guaranteed than a full-term pregnancy in your mid-30’s. Especially when you’ve recently had a string of life-changing bad things happen to you and are on defense for the next shoe to drop.

2 weeks ago | emotionalsupportlady.substack.com | Allison Raskin

1) I can’t call you out of the blue to ask if something really happened to me or not. You were the holder of family memories while my mind is often blank or obscured with doubt. I’ll never be able to fact-check my personal lore again, which means I will likely lose much of it to time like I have the actual memories. 2) I can’t go on all day shopping trips with you where we scamper from dressing room to dressing room hoping to find new versions of ourselves.

3 weeks ago | emotionalsupportlady.substack.com | Allison Raskin

I guested on a podcast the other week and after a wonderful mix of banter and heartfelt advice, I did what many would consider a serious faux pas. I made a shocking and destructive comment about my mother being dead. Even as it was happening, I had a sense I probably shouldn’t do this. It’s one thing to make that kind of joke when I am on my own podcast because my Just Between Us co-hosts already know 1) my mom is dead and 2) I have an affinity for dark jokes.

1 month ago | emotionalsupportlady.substack.com | Allison Raskin

When I asked my audiobook director, who is also one of my closest friends, who her favorite character was in my new romcom novel, SAVE THE DATE, she laughed and said it wouldn’t be fair to answer since so many of the characters are based on real people she knows. It felt too rude to say, for instance, that she liked Jackie over Alan because that would imply she liked my sister, Jocelyn, more than my father, Ken. Except…it wouldn’t actually be rude because Jackie and Alan aren’t real.

1 month ago | emotionalsupportlady.substack.com | Allison Raskin

For my 35th birthday last June, I decided I wanted to paint some ceramics. So I dragged my parents and husband to Color Me Mine in the middle of the week. The location we went to was on the brink of shutting down and we were the only customers. As we debated what to paint, my mother declared she wasn’t going to partake in what is (strangely) my favorite activity. She said she wasn’t any good at it, so it was better not to try.