There Was a Time for Everything: A Memoir

After the death of her mother when she turned ten, Judith Friedland learned to be resilient. She met the expectations for upper-middle-class women in Toronto in the 1940s and 1950s, which included post-secondary education, marriage, and motherhood. While raising a family and supporting her husband's academic career, she continued her formal education through part-time study and gradually began a journey tailored to herself as an individual. In her forties, she embarked on her own academic career, rising through the ranks to a tenured full professor and chairing the department of occupational therapy in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. In There Was a Time for Everything, Friedland reflects on her life and the fact that over time she managed to "have it all" just not all at once. This memoir draws on conversations with family members, friends, colleagues, and former classmates. It includes family histories that reflect her Jewish life and considers feminist issues within academic and health care settings. There Was a Time for Everything tells a story about the expectations many women faced in the mid-twentieth century while celebrating the importance of relationships and opportunities for living a full life.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Prelude Growing Up 1. Tillie: A Mother’s Life and Early Death 2. Mike: A Father’s Enduring Presence 3. The Jolofsky Family: Keeping the Sabbath and More 4. Childhood and Adolescence: My Mid-Century Toronto 5. Daughter, Step-Daughter, Sister: Relationships Reconfigured Growing Together 6. Student/Wife/Worker: My Roles Begin to Multiply 7. Motherhood: While Living My Husband’s Life 8. Dean’s Wife: Plus Part-Time Work and Grad School 9. Variations on a Theme: Different Environments, Same Situations Still Growing 10. Academia: Tiptoeing into a New Life 11. Difficult Times: Family Trouble and Work Trouble 12. Big Fish, Little Pond: Director, Division of Occupational Therapy 13. Little Fish, Big Pond: Chair, Department of Occupational Therapy 14. Post Chair and Retirement: But Not Ready to Stop 15. From Some Darkness into Light 16. Last Chapter Notes Index

About the Author :
Judith Friedland is a professor emerita in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Restoring the Spirit: The Beginnings of Occupational Therapy in Canada, 18901930.

Review :
"I was absorbed in this book from cover to cover. I smiled, laughed, nodded my head in strong agreement, and shed a few tears. It is beautiful, moving, and authentic. I'm not an old woman but also not a young woman and I strongly connected with the content." --Mary Forhan, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto "Judith Friedland's intelligent and generous memoir, which speaks back to both patriarchy and medical hegemony in health care, invites the reader to contemplate the immense changes in the conditions of possibility for Canadian women (especially from the upper-middle class) over the past eighty years. It also allows a broader audience a taste of the wisdom and kindness that has made Professor Friedland such a beloved mentor to so many in health care." --Dr Ayelet Kuper, Wilson Centre and Department of Medicine, University of Toronto "Judith Friedland's wonderfully emotive memoir illustrates the old saying 'keep calm and carry on.' A very worthwhile read for occupational therapists and anyone interested in little-known stories of feminism-in-action." --Elizabeth (Liz) Townsend, Professor Emerita, Dalhousie University "Reflecting on the roles of mother, friend, wife, student, grandmother, occupational therapist, mentor, scholar, and administrator, Judith Friedland draws us into a highly involved and inspiring life story of exceptional accomplishments." --Barry Trentham, Adjunct Professor, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto " There Was a Time for Everything offers us a personal and, at the same time, universal story of a woman finding herself as she wore the many hats that she and her world expected of someone of her generation and gender. In this lively memoir Friedland recounts her growing feminist consciousness as she confronted the many challenges that women faced as they entered a public workplace dominated by men." --Jane Errington, Professor of History, Queen's University "Through the prisms of a personal story, marked by both early tragedy and good fortune, as well as a career marked by both delay and triumph, Judith Friedland has written a compelling memoir. It is an account of a life well lived, one that ultimately finds both acceptance and gratitude." --David S. Goldbloom, Senior Medical Advisor, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto