One of my favorite childhood memories was of my mom reading to me every evening. We lived in an apartment off the University of Connecticut campus, and each evening, I would convince my mother to read me two or three books, and we probably spent a half hour to an hour on the couch just hanging out and going through those books. My father took this photo one evening when I was two or three years old – yes, I was a tall child who was in the 99% percentile until I was about about ten years old. Then I stopped growing and everyone else had their growth spurt.
On Wednesday, I was working on this piece on a specific childhood memory, and couldn’t stop. Writers, you know when you are so focused and in the zone that you can’t stop and step away from the computer? That’s where I was. And even though I knew it was super late for a Mother’s Day submission, I thought it was worth a shot and emailed it to an editor. Within an hour, the NYTimes Motherlode editor KJ Dell’Antonia accepted the piece, “A Mother’s Instinct, a Daughter’s Need” which you can read here (and no, that doesn’t normally happen – it was a lot of luck and timing). I hope you like it. And if you do, please tweet, email, and share extensively!
My mother, like all mothers I know, is absolutely fascinating – she is a computer scientist, paints, hikes, walks half marathons, and travels around the world. She reads and writes and is always learning something new, like the French language. She looks decades younger than her age, and abhors gossip and excessive drama. She’s a cool, complex lady and I totally love her.
Happy Mother’s Day to All the mothers out there – may your upcoming year be full of love, laughter and joy!
