Shania Twain Wrote Her Memoir For Her Son to Remember Her By
Country music star Shania Twain has lived a life full of unforgettable experiences and plenty of hit songs. In 2001, Twain entered another new chapter in her life by welcoming her son, Eja Lange, into the world. Her 2011 memoir From This Moment On was written in large part because of him.
Shania Twain’s son was a big part of her writing a book
Twain reflected on her reasons for writing a memoir and factored in her son in the decision-making process, as well as the fleeting nature of time.
“There have been moments in my life when I wasn’t so confident tomorrow would ever come, so once I began writing this book, it started crossing my mind more regularly that perhaps I’d better hurry up and document my life story in case I run out of time. Hurry to ensure that my story would not be put together with half-truths someday, misconstrued through articles and various other media exploitation,” she said.
“I’m also writing this in order for my son, Eja, to have an honest and complete account of my life should I not get the chance to tell him about it myself — just as my mother never got the chance to tell me more about herself,” she continued, mentioning the death of her mother at an early age. “It’s an empty, helpless feeling to have so many questions for my mother and know that they will never be answered. The finality of mortality and the fact that you can never go back and get your questions answered directly has often frustrated me and left me feeling helpless, with a longing impossible to satisfy. I don’t want my son to have to draw conclusions about me based on bits and pieces of memory or other people’s recollections, but instead from my own heart and mind. This has been a key reason behind why I decided to document my life story.”
The book itself is dedicated to her son.
She wrote her memoir for others too
While her son was a main motivator in writing her book, Twain also acknowledged that telling her own story might help people out there get through whatever they’re dealing with.
“For me, personally, there is a great deal of meaning in writing about my life in the event anyone ever finds my experiences useful as a guide in some way, or as inspiration to endure their own struggles. That maybe someone will find it helpful in a fellowship-like communication of one human being sharing with another,” she said. “I believe sharing my life story serves more purpose than keeping it to myself, and I recommend writing your life story even if you don’t plan on sharing it publicly, and noting in your will that by a specific year, for example, your story should be given to specified people for private use only.”
Eja sends his mom music
Being the son of two music industry figures, Eja Lange was practically born with a musical ear. In fact, Twain and her son sometimes bounce ideas off each other.
Twain spoke about her son’s artistic tendencies in a 2021 interview on Live! with Kelly and Ryan. “He’s very musical,” she said. “I’m not sure he’ll follow in my footsteps as far as writing and producing. [But] every once in a while we’ll get into the studio together and we send each other ideas.”
“We just send music back and forth. I use the guitar and he uses synthesizers,” she said. “You never know. Maybe someday we’ll come up with something really great.”
