Story for the Week
This Mother’s Day, there is only the Story for the Week…no book review at the end. The book that I originally had scheduled for this week is not the type of subject matter that I want to put out into the universe on a day that honors mothers. I’m saving it for next week, and boy, is it a doozy.
Instead, I thought I would focus today’s post on being a mom—with a tie-in to reading, of course. I mean, this is still a book blog first and foremost. When I texted Corinne a list of topics I wanted to include, she commented that she loved how they all related to reading. After I rolled my eyes, which no one was around to see, I reminded her that’s kind of the whole point 🤦🏻♀️and then told her that her comment was definitely going in the blog. Sometimes I wonder about her. 😜
Today marks my fourth Mother’s Day without my mom. I’ve mentioned in the past that she developed my love of reading because she was a voracious reader herself (In Honor Of Mother’s Day, A Bittersweet Mother/Daughter Story; Hope You Find The Best Bookstore In Heaven). She walked us to the library every couple of weeks when we were kids, and she always carried a book with her. She read in the car while my dad drove. She read at restaurants when she and my dad weren’t playing pinochle. And like most readers, she read in bed.
One year, we gave Mom a Kindle for Christmas, and she loved that she didn’t have to carry books around anymore. What she loved more than anything, though, was the ability to increase the font size. My dad isn’t a reader, so I hung onto Mom’s Kindle after she passed. When I mentioned something on Facebook recently about being able to download a free new release each month with Amazon Prime First Reads, my sister commented that she didn’t know about that benefit and that all she needed was for someone to give her a Kindle. I already have a Kindle Fire and a Paperwhite (because sometimes I read where it’s sunny), but I didn’t want to sell or trade in Mom’s. So my sister has it now, and I’m glad it’s being put to use again. 🥰
When Corinne was small, my mom and I both read to her all the time. Even at 18, she still has some of her favorite books from when she was little—Pat the Bunny; Goodnight, Gorilla; But Not the Hippopotamus. To this day, I don’t think I have ever denied her a book that she wanted to buy. She is not as voracious a reader as I am or as my mom was (in part because she reads slower), but if she asks for a book, I will buy it for her. Have we donated never-opened books to the library as a result? Absolutely. Does it change anything? Absolutely not. Someone will read those books, and for me, that is a sound investment.
Once Corinne was in grade school, I started taking her to the library like my mom took us. Eventually, we started taking her friends too. We would stop for a cold soda on the way, and we would find a comfortable corner of the library with couches and a table, or we would reserve a study room. I would set a timer for an hour, and we would read.
I had one rule. They could check out any books they wanted, but for the reading time, they had to choose something they wouldn’t normally pick. 😁 If I didn’t make the rule, Corinne would have spent every Saturday reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants. Not that there’s anything wrong with those, but I definitely wanted to expand her horizons. 😉
We don’t read at the library anymore, but we still do library stuff. Our library recently started The Hundreds Club. Described as “Oak Lawn Library’s Teen and Adult reading challenge that is also a social club for patrons who love to read,” it sounded right up my alley…well, the reading part anyway. I desperately wanted to participate, but I am not the social butterfly that my daughter is. So I did what any self-respecting introvert would do. I signed her up and make her go with me to all the events. I even recruited a couple of friends so that I don’t have to talk to too many strangers. 🤫
We’ve also started venturing out to author events. The last one we attended was a panel of four authors doing a book tour together. It was not Corinne’s jam, but we met my friend Debbie for lunch and we all went to the event together. And I still managed to convince Corinne to attend one this coming September for an author who has such a following that they had to move the event from a local bookstore to a college concert hall. 😲 Debbie is going to that one too. (Again, I desperately want to go to these events, but I surround myself with people I know so that I have someone to talk to because I don’t like talking to strangers.)
This Mother’s Day weekend, my agenda consists of finishing my current read, writing the review and blog post for the book I just finished, and spending some time with Corinne (obviously). We have tickets for Mamma Mia! at the James M. Nederlander Theatre and will get something to eat after. I have a rule on Mother’s Day (and my birthday). I don’t need to be pampered, but they’re the only two days of the year that I refuse to cook or clean. You can order in, take me out, cook for me at home, whatever you choose…but I will not be cooking, and I definitely won’t be doing the dishes. 😉
Four years ago, there was a “Being a Mom” challenge going around Facebook. Every day, you would select a picture from a day in the life of being a Mom and post it without any explanation. To close out this post, I thought I would reshare those photos. (There are more than ten because I posted six on the final day.) And I’m adding ten new pictures from the last year of my Mom life. Enjoy!
And here’s hoping that all moms (and dads who are moms) have an amazing Mother’s Day 2024.
And to my mom…I love you and miss you every single day. 💓
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