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Born a Crime - Book review (sort of)
After an hour or so of waiting, she opened her unbandaged eye. The second
she did, I lost it. I started bawling. She asked for some water and I gave her a
cup, and she leaned forward a bit to sip through the straw. I kept bawling and
bawling and bawling. I couldn't control myself.
> "Shh," she said. "Don't cry, baby. Shhhhh. Don't cry."
> "How can I not cry, Mom? You almost died."
> "No, I wasn't going to die. I wasn't going to die. It's okay. I wasn't going
to die."
> "But I thought you were dead." I kept bawling and bawling. "I thought I'd
lost you."
> "No, baby. Baby, don't cry. Trevor. Trevor, listen. Listen to me. Listen."
> "What?" I said, tears streaming down my face.
> "My child, you must look on the bright side."
> "What? What are you talking about, 'the bright side'? Mom, you were shot
in the face. There is no bright side."
> "Of course there is. Now you're officially the best-looking person in the
family."
She broke out in a huge smile and started laughing. Through my tears, I
started laughing, too.
---
The above text is from Trevor Noah's book Born a Crime - Stories from a South African Childhood. The book is great, but the part that resonates with me the most is the above conversation between Trevor and his mother. It made me appreciate mothers' love and their enormous strength.
For context, when growing up Trevor's mother used to tease him about how she is the best-looking person among the family. One day she got shot in the face by her ex-husband. The above conversation took place the day after she went under surgery. Even under so much pain, she had the strength to joke about it in order not to make her son feel sad/hopeless. I think that is amazing.
#book_review
Born a Crime - Book review (sort of)
After an hour or so of waiting, she opened her unbandaged eye. The second
she did, I lost it. I started bawling. She asked for some water and I gave her a
cup, and she leaned forward a bit to sip through the straw. I kept bawling and
bawling and bawling. I couldn't control myself.
> "Shh," she said. "Don't cry, baby. Shhhhh. Don't cry."
> "How can I not cry, Mom? You almost died."
> "No, I wasn't going to die. I wasn't going to die. It's okay. I wasn't going
to die."
> "But I thought you were dead." I kept bawling and bawling. "I thought I'd
lost you."
> "No, baby. Baby, don't cry. Trevor. Trevor, listen. Listen to me. Listen."
> "What?" I said, tears streaming down my face.
> "My child, you must look on the bright side."
> "What? What are you talking about, 'the bright side'? Mom, you were shot
in the face. There is no bright side."
> "Of course there is. Now you're officially the best-looking person in the
family."
She broke out in a huge smile and started laughing. Through my tears, I
started laughing, too.
---
The above text is from Trevor Noah's book Born a Crime - Stories from a South African Childhood. The book is great, but the part that resonates with me the most is the above conversation between Trevor and his mother. It made me appreciate mothers' love and their enormous strength.
For context, when growing up Trevor's mother used to tease him about how she is the best-looking person among the family. One day she got shot in the face by her ex-husband. The above conversation took place the day after she went under surgery. Even under so much pain, she had the strength to joke about it in order not to make her son feel sad/hopeless. I think that is amazing.
#book_review