The Best Kept Secret - I Am (Menopausal) Woman, Hear Me Roar

Last fall my book club, The Happy Bookers, celebrated 10 years of reading together. The book we chose for that anniversary meeting was Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flag.

Our favourite character was Evelyn Couch, an unhappy, menopausal woman who was barely hanging on. We especially identified with her alter-ego, Towanda. When Evelyn channels Towanda, she becomes an angry, take no prisoners, Amazon warrior.

My favourite scene takes place in a parking lot when two teen-age girls steal a parking space from Evelyn. "How can you do that?!" she cries. "Because we're young and beautiful," they laugh. Towanda takes over as Evelyn proceeds to ram their car with hers, all the while manically shouting, "I'm old and I have insurance."

I thought of Towanda recently as my friend W. recounted a little dust-up she'd had with a neighbour. At one point, W. found herself pounding on the neighbour's door shouting, "Don't mess with a menopausal woman!" I won't go into the details but suffice it to say that W. won the battle.

Even mild, mannered Edith Bunker was known to utter a few choice words as she faced her own menopause battles.

Back in my mother's day, they used to refer to menopause as "The Change" and I suspect that had as much to do with mood swings and personality changes as it did with physical changes.

Personally, I'm in awe of the rage and raw power that sometimes well up in women going through menopause. I'm a woman. I know what a powerful force those hormones can be.

I suspect it's no coincidence that that women frequently realize their greatest achievements at this stage in their life.

Go Towanda!