One Habit I Am Grateful My Mother Taught Me

You Have It, Too

My mother loved reading. She was always very busy with 4 children and her job, but whenever she could, she sat at the kitchen table to read something.

She went from famous contemporary books, to little stories of her village, to classic books. Every evening, sitting on the same chair, she used to read the newspaper. I don’t know where she could find the time and energy to do it, I think it was her time for herself. I now realize how important and rare those moments were for her, and how selfish we have all been entering the kitchen and asking: “Hey ma, is breakfast ready?” Or a thousand other requests. We interrupted her, and she stopped reading, ready to sacrifice her time once again.

The moments she spent reading were only the first part of her process: the following part was a selection of what to share with her kids, particularly with me and my younger sister, who have always been avid readers. Every day, she used to do something special for us: she cut off an article from the newspaper and gave it to us saying: “You should read it”. It was not an obligation, it was advising, to help us learn or improve. But when she chose an article, then it was good. Later in time, my sister and I started saying: “Have you heard about that new book? Do you know if Mum read it?” She became our expert.

The third part of her process was all in our hands, it was our reaction after reading. When we sat at the table with her, we spoke about ‘her’ books, and their characters. We asked one another: “Why do you think that woman cried?”, “Why did her husband lie to her?”, and we tried to find out what we liked in every person, and why. Every conversation took to another one, they were endless. And if we were interrupted, the next conversation started from where we left. We were sharing our ideas about book characters, but I think we were talking about us, and about our feelings. Maybe it was her way to get to know her daughters a little better. I am sure she enjoyed those moments.

I think she really needed someone to share her passion, because she taught us to read before we went to school, and she went on for her entire life. Unfortunately, there comes a time when roles change between parents and children, and when she was sick for a long time at the hospital, I used to bring her some books. Even in that complicated time of her life, she started making friends with the nurses and they shared their advice and comments on books, so she created a new reading group, which, I must admit, at first made me jealous.

She was enjoying her life and other people’s life through books. She learned a lot about humankind, she travelled the world without leaving her country, she became open-minded thanks to her books.

That’s what we are all trying to do.