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My Mother's Radio
My mother’s radio
I went downstairs with a big smile on my face. I kept smiling about how elated I was to have such a delightful and lovely family like mine… I felt exultant that day to be around my loved ones, so happy. My dad was probably mowing the lawn. It was a sunny day after all, and it gave me such a great feeling of motivation. My mom, she always seemed so happy when we were around her. That day she was cooking pasta for us, I remember. But what kept me smiling and laughing was the fact that she was… singing, very loudly and happily. The music seemed old for me, almost ancient. My sister was seeing her as well; it was hilarious, for both of us. She looked at us, and she smiled even more. I asked myself where the music was coming from. I didn’t see any stereo or any artifact of music at all. It was almost like she was singing with music in the background, just like in the movies. I asked her: Mom, where is your discman? She laughed. She told me “No, my boy, I don’t have one of those, but I have this”. Then she presented me a small radio, full of dust and nothing but a turn on and off button and an antenna. She told me that her father gave it to her many years ago and she has kept it through all of these years. What a surprise for me to see such a meaningful object for her, given to the fact that she has never been a woman who is sentimental about those kinds of things. But you could see in her eyes that that radio had been a part of almost her entire life. I asked her if I could have it someday. I don’t know why I asked her that. I was just a child. I didn’t even want it. And I thought she was going to say no, but instead, she smiled once again, and with tears in her face, she said: “One day, this will be yours, and I want you to keep it because it would remind you of me”. And I didn’t know what she meant by that. I was not aware of how death worked. Of course, I knew she and my father would be gone one day, they once told me that, but I didn’t quite understand why. Now it has been almost ten years since that moment happened. Now, my father keeps mowing the lawn, my sister still laughs with me, my mother still plays her music in her little radio and sings out loud, and I learned that one day, when I’m on my own, I would still be able to sing and laugh with her, if I just keep that little but essential artifact of music in my life.
