LOVE HARD: And Other Lessons My Mother Taught Me
Aaditi Narayanan
A favorite part of my childhood was bedtime, because that was when my family got to spend time together. Especially for my mom and I, this was when we would both get under the covers and talk about my day. From
the early age of five, I got into the habit of telling my mom everything and receiving her comfort in return. When I was struggling with math, she taught me how to do addition, and when I was learning how to read she would sit up and animate different children’s books with me. As the years went on, I got used to having her attention and unconditional love and support. Through these nighttime chats with my mother, I was able to learn how similar and different we truly are. Even though our close relationship led me to believe that we were one in the same, we have actually led very different lives.
Aaditi Narayanan 31 | COLLEGIETTE
I grew up in Suburbia, Massachusetts with a younger brother and had a relatively comfortable life. I lived in the same house for most of my life, very close to everyone in my household, but isolated from my extended family in Kerala, India. My mother grew up in many different Indian cities, never living in one place for more than four years. There was never one, concrete place she could call home and had to make new friends every few years. She had two siblings, a brother who was six years older and a sister eight
