My mother had no idea that her daughter would turn out to be a writer, but she would not let me go through a day of my childhood without music.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of music in the author's childhood and its influence on her journey as a writer.
In this quote, Virginia Euwer Wolff reflects on the unanticipated impact that her mother had on her creative development. While her mother may not have envisioned her daughter becoming a writer, she recognized the essential role that music played in fostering a rich and inspiring environment during her formative years. This illustrates how seemingly small influences can shape a person's future in profound ways.
In practice
This quote can be used during a speech about the role of family in shaping career paths.
As authors evolve and try to trace the precedents that have shaped their work, it sometimes becomes a matter of identifying the shadowy figure in the back row of the mental photograph, or of grabbing at the tail of a memory that's just slipping out the window into thin air.
I mean, it's like we all get our raw materials from our families―but it's up to us whether we build bridges or bombs.
We know, for instance, that there is a direct, inverse relationship between frequency of family meals and social problems. Bluntly stated, members of families who eat together regularly are statistically less likely to stick up liquor stores, blow up meth labs, give birth to crack babies, commit suicide, or make donkey porn. If Little Timmy had just had more meatloaf, he might not have grown up to fill chest freezers with Cub Scout parts.
Having a child, particularly your first child, is such a life-changing moment. Nothing can really prepare you for that.
I remember staring at my son endlessly when he was an infant, stunned by his very existence, wondering where on earth he had come from.
If you have a child, I said, you have a responsibility at least to stay alive.
An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.
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