
Lena, a Life
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Eileen Smith
About this listen
The stories shared with me about Lena, my husband’s mother, were extraordinary. I heard many of them over the years, tales told to me by her son and his father, accounts that were often shocking, sometimes heart-wrenching, and always fascinating.
However, I only met my mother-in-law Lena one time. She was visiting Detroit and wanted to know her only granddaughter, who was almost three at the time.
I invited her over. When my husband was told his mother was coming to visit, he arranged to be elsewhere.
She'd been described to me as beautiful in her youth, but she looked like any ordinary grandmother. I took that as a testament to the wild life she'd led.
She brought a quilt she’d made for my daughter–every stitch by hand. Melanie still has it, and since Lena's death, there’s a ghost story attached.
Lena burned her candle at both ends, lived her life the way she chose, and left it all too soon.
Her second son did not attend the funeral.
©2024 Donna Foley Mabry (P)2024 Donna Foley MabryPeople who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Silent Defiance
- Sophie Scholl and the White Rose (Unsung Heroes Voices Lost in Time: The Women Behind Revolutionary Movements)
- By: K.T. Glynn
- Narrated by: Kristen Alifano
- Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dive into a riveting historical journey that reveals the courageous triumph of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, even if history tried to silence them. Have you ever wondered about the unsung heroes who dared to stand against tyranny? Does mainstream history leave you yearning for compelling stories of the figures who defied the odds? Are you searching for an engaging narrative that will challenge your intellect and resonate deeply with your sense of justice?
-
-
INTRIGUING!
- By William on 04-12-25
By: K.T. Glynn
-
The Housekeeper's Secret
- A Memoir
- By: Sandra Schnakenburg
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Lee Metoyer is hired to be the new housekeeper, she has no idea that she’s about to become the anchor to a family in an abusive patriarch’s home, setting a mystery in motion that will take decades to uncover. At the age of seventy-two, Lee falls ill and on her deathbed asks Sandy to write her story. The only problem is, Sandy doesn’t know the story. Embarking on a quest to honor Lee’s final wishes, Sandy takes an emotional and thrilling journey, unveiling shocking truths not only about her beloved housekeeper but also her own upbringing.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Eliza Wheeler on 01-01-25
-
Angel of Death
- Uncover The Darkness of Nightmare Nurse, Jane Toppan
- By: Ryan Green
- Narrated by: Steve White
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1895, elderly patients were quietly dying one by one, yet no one sounded the alarm – until an entirely family passed away. All had been in the care of nurse Jane Toppan and suspicions hit the roof. Dilated pupils, feverish bodies, and erratic rambling left doctors baffled, but these weren’t the signs of illness. They were the marks of something far more sinister. Toppan manipulated her patients' dosages, watching them drift between life and death. For her, each fatal dose was not a crime, but a twisted act of mercy—a dark salvation from suffering.
-
-
Medicine and murder...
- By txdoc on 01-13-25
By: Ryan Green
-
Maude
- By: Donna Mabry
- Narrated by: Shana Gagnon
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1906 I was barely over 14 years old, and it was my wedding day. My older sister, Helen, came to my room, took me by the hand, and sat me down on the bed. She said, "You've always been a good girl, Maude, and done what I told you. Now you're going to be a married woman, and he will be the head of the house. When you go home tonight after your party, no matter what he wants to do to you, you have to let him do it. Do you understand?"
-
-
Narration made listening almost unbearable
- By Sandra on 01-07-16
By: Donna Mabry
-
The Road Home
- By: Chuck Wilson, Debbie Wilson
- Narrated by: Chuck Wilson, Jennifer Planiol
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written in novelic form, this non-fiction book relates the love story, twenty-eight-year cancer battle and faith journey of Debbie and Chuck Wilson including part of Chuck's mourning process. Told alternately from both Debbie's and Chuck's perspectives, this very personal book includes a great deal of humor and intimate adult conversations about the realities of life and death. The intention of this book is to be inspirational to everyone and especially of help to anyone going through significant health or personal challenges.
-
-
A Story that Spares No Pain and Spares No Joy
- By Kevin L on 01-10-25
By: Chuck Wilson, and others
-
With Hell in Their Hearts
- The Taylor Boys and the Little Girl Who Lived
- By: Charles Huddleston
- Narrated by: Charles Huddleston
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like the script of a riveting Hollywood Western and nearly forgotten for over 130 years, the Meeks Family Tragedy of 1894 is one of the most heartbreaking stories in the history of America. From bank fraud, bribery, “blind tiger” saloons and cheating at cards, to poisoning, insurance fraud, Mickey Finns, murder and more, this is a fascinating look at the treacherous Taylor Boys.
-
-
Murder and Retribution
- By Charles K. Hippler on 02-15-25
-
The Silent Defiance
- Sophie Scholl and the White Rose (Unsung Heroes Voices Lost in Time: The Women Behind Revolutionary Movements)
- By: K.T. Glynn
- Narrated by: Kristen Alifano
- Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dive into a riveting historical journey that reveals the courageous triumph of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, even if history tried to silence them. Have you ever wondered about the unsung heroes who dared to stand against tyranny? Does mainstream history leave you yearning for compelling stories of the figures who defied the odds? Are you searching for an engaging narrative that will challenge your intellect and resonate deeply with your sense of justice?
-
-
INTRIGUING!
- By William on 04-12-25
By: K.T. Glynn
-
The Housekeeper's Secret
- A Memoir
- By: Sandra Schnakenburg
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Lee Metoyer is hired to be the new housekeeper, she has no idea that she’s about to become the anchor to a family in an abusive patriarch’s home, setting a mystery in motion that will take decades to uncover. At the age of seventy-two, Lee falls ill and on her deathbed asks Sandy to write her story. The only problem is, Sandy doesn’t know the story. Embarking on a quest to honor Lee’s final wishes, Sandy takes an emotional and thrilling journey, unveiling shocking truths not only about her beloved housekeeper but also her own upbringing.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Eliza Wheeler on 01-01-25
-
Angel of Death
- Uncover The Darkness of Nightmare Nurse, Jane Toppan
- By: Ryan Green
- Narrated by: Steve White
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1895, elderly patients were quietly dying one by one, yet no one sounded the alarm – until an entirely family passed away. All had been in the care of nurse Jane Toppan and suspicions hit the roof. Dilated pupils, feverish bodies, and erratic rambling left doctors baffled, but these weren’t the signs of illness. They were the marks of something far more sinister. Toppan manipulated her patients' dosages, watching them drift between life and death. For her, each fatal dose was not a crime, but a twisted act of mercy—a dark salvation from suffering.
-
-
Medicine and murder...
- By txdoc on 01-13-25
By: Ryan Green
-
Maude
- By: Donna Mabry
- Narrated by: Shana Gagnon
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1906 I was barely over 14 years old, and it was my wedding day. My older sister, Helen, came to my room, took me by the hand, and sat me down on the bed. She said, "You've always been a good girl, Maude, and done what I told you. Now you're going to be a married woman, and he will be the head of the house. When you go home tonight after your party, no matter what he wants to do to you, you have to let him do it. Do you understand?"
-
-
Narration made listening almost unbearable
- By Sandra on 01-07-16
By: Donna Mabry
-
The Road Home
- By: Chuck Wilson, Debbie Wilson
- Narrated by: Chuck Wilson, Jennifer Planiol
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Written in novelic form, this non-fiction book relates the love story, twenty-eight-year cancer battle and faith journey of Debbie and Chuck Wilson including part of Chuck's mourning process. Told alternately from both Debbie's and Chuck's perspectives, this very personal book includes a great deal of humor and intimate adult conversations about the realities of life and death. The intention of this book is to be inspirational to everyone and especially of help to anyone going through significant health or personal challenges.
-
-
A Story that Spares No Pain and Spares No Joy
- By Kevin L on 01-10-25
By: Chuck Wilson, and others
-
With Hell in Their Hearts
- The Taylor Boys and the Little Girl Who Lived
- By: Charles Huddleston
- Narrated by: Charles Huddleston
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like the script of a riveting Hollywood Western and nearly forgotten for over 130 years, the Meeks Family Tragedy of 1894 is one of the most heartbreaking stories in the history of America. From bank fraud, bribery, “blind tiger” saloons and cheating at cards, to poisoning, insurance fraud, Mickey Finns, murder and more, this is a fascinating look at the treacherous Taylor Boys.
-
-
Murder and Retribution
- By Charles K. Hippler on 02-15-25