Book Report: MOM

My good friend gave me a book called Mom: a celebration of mothers from Storycorps. I'd never heard of Storycorp, but the "as heard on NPR" caught my eye. As stated on their website, "Storycorp is an independent nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives." 

They've collected and archived over 40,000 interviews since 2003. "Each conversation is recorded on a free CD to share, and is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress." 

How cool is that? So, the Mom book is a collection of interviews about mothers. This was a quick but fascinating read. I love that Storycorps has created a way to get the stories of regular people out into the world. 

One of my favorite quotes from the book came from a daughter who recalled her mom saying: "When you have children, always remember that a parent should be like a gas station. The children can come to you and then go out into the world and do their things and then come back for more. But be careful that the gas station stays in one place. Don't run after your children. Just stay there in the gas station to give them support."  

I'm sure that analogy will come in handy one day, when Em's a little older (as for now, I spend most of my time running after her). There's a list of "Favorite Storycorps Questions" in the back of the book, that you could use to interview someone. I hope to soon find the time (and equipment, and proximity) to interview the important people in my life and help preserve their stories.