#以书之名 #
Qingming Festival return to the hometown to worship the ancestors.
I held my son's little hand up the hill, the sun shining warmly on us, and the wildflowers of all colors swaying in the wind. Blue sky and white clouds, everything is full of life.
When I came to the tombstone of the ancestors, my son asked me a question: "If one day, my mother sleeps in it, what will I do?" "
When the adults heard this fairy tale, they all laughed.
I said, "Do whatever you want!" By that day, you'll know the answer! "
My answer is light and can drift away with the spring breeze. But my heart is heavy, if it is true, tomorrow I will die, what will I leave for the child, to accompany him through the rest of his life?
Just after the Qingming Festival, I had the privilege of reading a children's literature book called "Calling Shark People".
The book, the first work of children's literature by British author Ziela Bethel, caused a huge response as soon as it came out, and was nominated for the Carnegie Prize in 2022 and selected for the Blue Peter Children's Book Award.
Writer Zila Bethel was born in a leprosy hospital, and it wasn't until she was eight years old that she came to England to study and had her first shoes of her own.
The profound life experience gave Zira a delicate and sensitive inner world, making her interpretation of love warm and long, and deeply rooted in people's hearts. Although the protagonists of the story are two 12-year-old girls, and the language style is also naïve, but between the lines, the meaning is far-reaching, whether men, women or children, reading this book, will benefit a lot.
If tomorrow, I am going to die, what can I leave for my child to grow up with him?
There are answers in this book...
One or two families who were originally happy and fell into their own unfortunate families
Leo Tolstoy said in Anna Karenina: Happy families have the same happiness, but unhappy families have their own misfortunes.
In Shark Man, Zira shows us two families who once had the same happiness and then fell into their own misfortunes.
The protagonist, Blue Wing, originally lived happily on the island of Ireland as a family of three, living a primitive and traditional tribal life. The mother cooked rice and weaved nets, and the father went out to sea to fish; the mother was gentle and kind, and the father was industrious and brave. For them, the people of the village always relish it, and Blue Wing grows freely in the blue sea and blue sky without worry.
But all happiness ended in an accident.
Bluewing escapes to swim in the bay and encounters a shark, and her parents jump into the sea to save her, and they splash the water to attract the attention of the shark with their lives. But after the shark killed its parents, it turned around and killed the blue wing. Out of guilt for his parents, Bluewing's soul has been unable to rest in peace, floating in the human world, seeking revenge.
Another protagonist, Maple Tree, is from burlington, a bustling metropolis in the United States. Her father was a university professor and her mother was a descendant of Japanese military officers. Both parents are Kochi, friendly, and rich.
Maple learned to swim with her mother, and she was happy like a little fish; when she traveled with her mother, she was free like a little bird. She didn't even have to go to school, and all the knowledge she knew was taught by her mother.
However, the author Zila wants to tell us that whether poor or rich, a happy life will encounter accidents. Maple's mother developed a brain tumor and died soon after. However, at the time of her mother's death, Maple and the professor's father did not accompany her well for their own reasons, which caused both father and daughter to live in deep self-blame and grief for a long time.
Second, without the mother, how should the child grow?
Teacher Fan Deng once said: The only thing that parents leave to their children is the only thing that can accompany and support their children's growth, not the language of teaching, not the material basis, but the picture of love. These pictures of love will always warm the child's heart and nourish the child's growth.
Two 12-year-old girls, Blue Wing and Maple Tree, have such a picture of love in their hearts.
Blue Wing said: "Mom is always gentle and tolerant like the water of the lake. No matter what I said, she would calmly and gently try to understand. "
As for The Maple Tree, her mother gave her a lucky bracelet with all sorts of beautiful pendants hanging from it. Each has a special meaning:
When she sees the "Eiffel Tower", she will think that because she is afraid that the tower is too high to climb, her mother encourages her to take the first step; when she sees the "book", she will think of the days when her mother taught her knowledge at home; and the "clock", which represents time, symbolizes that her mother will always be with her...
Children don't remember everything, and the longer they leave their mothers, the more they forget, and only these loving pictures will be engraved in the memory of life and will always accompany the child to grow.
Mr. Lao She, who has been displaced all his life, also cherished the "picture of love" in his heart, mentioned his mother, he said: She is illiterate, whenever I go home, she always asks with a smile: "Write another book?" "
Mr. Lao She called this picture "the greatest encouragement", his mother is willing to swallow all the hardships of life, but also to face her son with an optimistic and open-minded smile, she will never stop the child from writing a book. This great encouragement has also become a needle for Mr. Lao She to face all the hardships in life.
Third, the mother is gone, and the love is always there
The child of the famous media personality Susie Hopkins also asked her the same question as my son: "What will I do if my mother dies?" "
Susie is very honest about death, and she discusses death carefully with her children. He even wrote a book for his child, "After I Left", as a guide for the child's growth after losing his mother. She told her children how to cook potatoes, how to clean the room, how to face sadness, how to fall in love...
Susie told the child, "Even without me, you can move on." You already have the power to face the future! "
Yes, even if the mother is gone, the child will continue to grow up.
In "Shark Man", Blue Wing grew up and finally became a shark caller. But in the face of the villain shark who had killed her parents, she put down the knife. She understood the shark's fear, and she also understood that her heart should not be filled with hatred, because love is more powerful than hate.
Maple also grew up, from a proud and wayward girl to a softer and more empathetic. She learned that Dad was more important than Mom, because Dad was alive and Mom would never come back. We cannot fall into the grief of losing a loved one and forget to love those around us.
Although mom is gone, mom's love won't go away. This gentle love, eternal and firm, will be the source of strength for children to face the future life.
Now, I will solemnly answer my son's question once again: don't worry about the child, the mother's love will always be with you!