I was raised Roman Catholic; as the vast majority of latin americans. Today, I was having a conversation with an exciting new friend, and the bible came out.
Multiple bibles were present in my mother's house. She is, to this day, a devout catholic; religiously -no pun intended- assisting church every sunday morning; giving away her precious resting time, waking up early to go listen to a priest saying nothing sensical.
By the time I was about 10, I had read pieces -if not all- of the Bible. The moment I paid some attention to it, I became a closeted atheist.
I remember a year my mom was fixated with buying a huge christmas artifical tree, at one of the fanciest department stores in our country (in the 90s). She saved for an entire year to buy it.
When the day arrived, she took her children and off we went to the store. She was like a child contemplating the options. She was getting her tree that day.
I was painfuly bored and I let myself wander in the book section. I was around 11. One book title caught my attention: The Antichrist, by Friedrich Nietzsche. I gave it a quick glance and that was it... I was hooked.
"Who is this Friedrich Nietzsche? I don't even know how to say his name. Whatever. I will ask my mom to buy it for me."
I rushed to my mom and requested her to buy the book for me. The look in her face was pale. "Are you serious Luis?", "Yes mom! I am, please.". She paused and said: "Ok, fine.".
The irony. She saved for an entire year to buy a CHRISTmas tree, and her son was asking her to buy an ANTIchrist book. She wasn't particularly happy, of course. But that is one way my mom showed love to me: by allowing my curiosity to flourish.
She was a disciplinarian, for sure. But she knew when and how to love.
I opened that book and never looked back.
Thanks Mom, I love you deeply.