Book excerpt: The relationship between mother and daughter is an incomparable blend of affection, comfort, rebellion, pain, frustration, and joy. In Grabbing at Water, mother and daughter Joan and Maddy Lambur explore their extraordinary bond as they recount the events of Maddy's youth and young adulthood -- the successes and struggles, clashes and reconciliations -- telling each story from their very different and equally hilarious points of view. As Joan evolves from a broke, newly single mother living in a Toronto fixer-upper to a high-flying executive, she watches Maddy change too, from a gregarious little girl who struggles in school to a free-spirited, confident teen. Together, they navigate academic crises and health scares, wayward pets and romantic missteps. Joan watches with pride and terror as her daughter asserts her independence for the first time -- and then reasserts it again and again. Maddy, bright and willful, strives to live by her own rules -- even if that means joyriding in her mother's fancy company car, or getting her picture on the front page of the local newspaper at a protest to legalize marijuana. Yet every challenge seemingly designed to test the limits of her mother's love only serves to prove that there are no limits. Honest, heartfelt, and witty, the stories in this unique memoir illuminate and celebrate perhaps the most defining relationship we will ever know -- one that, even at its most difficult, is deeply rewarding and utterly irreplaceable.