When my mother left England to get married in Egypt before the second world war, her father gave her a subscription to the Manchester Guardian. Thus I have been familiar with the Guardian my whole life, even though I never read it.
My husband and I moved to the US in 1968 where he went to graduate school in New Mexico. Five years later we moved to Sacramento, California. I decided to go back to school to study music, and gave private piano lessons before retiring.
My mother (pictured, left) came to live with us in 1990 after my father passed away, and immediately re-established her subscription. She would sit with her magnifying glass reading it from cover to cover all week, and enjoyed tackling the Quick crossword, right up until she passed away at the age of 101. At that point there were still six months left on her subscription, so I began reading the paper, instantly got hooked and have been reading it ever since – seven years to date. I love the book reviews, the long in-depth articles, commentaries, international news – and of course Notes & Queries, which I always save for dessert. I marvel at the ingenuity and wit of readers’ responses.
At one time I couldn’t understand why my mother would subscribe to the Guardian when we have a good local newspaper. Now I know. I just wish I had discovered the Guardian a long time ago!
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