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Writer's pictureKristina Lang

Mother and daughter/Majka i kcer

Updated: Mar 7, 2022

Today is Mother's Day in England. I have no idea if that day is always celebrated on the same date, but I know it always falls on a Sunday.

From a young age, my Sara wrote me cards on Mother's Day. Although she is fluent in Croatian, no one has ever actually taught her to read and write in Croatian. She spontaneously decided that the cards she wrote to me and her dad must be in Croatian. At an early age she would insert English letters into Croatian words, and her Dad and I used to tease her because of that. When she was a little older, one day she came with the English alphabet and said, "Come on mom, which one of these does not exists in Croatian?" I don't even know how she learned Croatian letters, she still makes mistakes, so it turns out to be funny sometimes with her imperfection, but considering that she is self-taught, it's not bad at all. Here I approach one card from from teenage age that Sara wrote to me for Mother’s Day.



"Dear Mom, I love you very much even when you get on my nerves a little or a lot. You are still the best and most beautiful and smartest mom there is. Kiss Your dearest (and only) daughter"


Despite these wonderful cards, many of which I lost over time, I received the most beautiful compliment as a mother from Sarah when she was in her mid-teens. On one occasion, she told me: “You know, mom, I never thought of us as having an especially great relationship as a mom and daughter, until I saw what it was like with Doris. Doris always thinks for a long time of how she will tell her mother things. I never think how I'll tell you something, I just tell you." I have that wonderful relationship with my daughter to this day. For Mother’s day this year Sara wrote me a poem in Croatian and also translated into English. Recordings of her readings these are below. And this blog I’m writing is the joined effort of me and Sara. Not only does Sara correct my English texts, she also corrects my written thoughts. Her biggest concern is that I do not insult or hurt anyone in any way and that I am always politically correct. In the year I have been publishing my texts, it has only happened twice that I have written texts that Sara did not approve of, so I never published them. The title of the first such text from a few months ago was "Boris". There I shared my thoughts about the British Prime Minister who won my respect over press conferences during the past year. When Sara read the text, she first asked me if I had become a conservative, and then she decisively added, “Mom, neither I nor my friends think he is such a good prime minister, and I refuse to edit your text. I don't want you to publish it." She went on to explain the issues she had with him that I will not delve into here, but I listened to her because Sara is my editor after all. I wrote another unpublished text entitled "American Actress and the British Palace" a few days ago. In the text, I showed my lack of understanding and empathy for the young royal couple in America. In short, I feel that Harry has been led through life by a woman who has neither enough knowledge nor broad horizons for the role. I discussed this topic with Sara for a long time and she gently explained to me that there is another way of looking at the whole story.

I enjoy everything I do with my daughter and I am happy that this blog also helps me to bridge the distance of a few hours of driving as well as the travel restrictions that now divide us.


My dear little girl, I love you infinitely and I am proud of you.

With love,

Kristina

Sunday, March 14th, 2021



Majka I kcer

Danas se u Engleskoj slavi Majcin dan. Nemam pojma dali se taj dan uvijek slavi na isti datum, ali znam da uvijek padne u nedelju. Od malih nogu moja mi je Sara pisala cestitke za Majcin dan. Iako ona tecno prica Hrvatski nikada ju zapravo nitko nije ucio citati I pisati na hrvatskom. Ono sto zna pohvatala je sama. Spontano je odlucila da cestitke koje meni I tati pise moraju biti na hrvatskom. Na pocetku je u hrvatske rijeci umetala engleska slova I tata I ja smo ju neki put I zafrkavali zbog toga. Kad je malo porasla jedan je dan dosla sa engleskom abecedom I rekla “Ajmo mama, koji nema u hrvatskom?” Kako je naucila hrvatska slova niti sama ne znam, tu jos grijesi pa I ispadne smijesna, ali obzirom da je samouka svaka joj cast. Ovdje prilazem jednu cestitku iz tinedjerske dobi.

Usprkos tim divnim cestitkama od koje sam mnoge zagubila vremenom najljepsi kompliment sam kao majka dobila od Sare kad je bila u srednjim tinejdzerskim godinama. Tom mi je prilikom rekla: “Znas mama, ja nikada nisam razmisljala o tome da ti I jai mamo jako dobar odnos kao mama I kcer, sve dok nisam vidjela kako je to kod Doris. Doris uvijek dugo razmislja kako ce nesto reci svojoj mami. Ja nikada ne mislim kako cu tebi nesto reci, ja ti samo kazem”. Taj divan odnos sa svojom kceri imam sve do danas.

Povodom danasnjeg Majcinog dana Sara mi je pred dva napisala pjesmicu, u orginalu na hrvatskom koji ovdje I cita. I ovaj blog koji pisem je rad mene I Sare. Ne samo da Sara korigira moje engleske tekstove, ona korigira I moje napisane misli. Najvece joj je briga da nikoga niti na koji nacin ne uvrijedim ili povrijedim I da sam uvijek politicki korektna. U ovih godinu dana koliko objavljujem svoje tekstove samo se dva puta dogodilo da sam napisala tekstove koje Sara nije odobrilau potpunosti pa ih nikada nisam objavila. Naslov provog takovog teksta, od pred par mjeseci, bio je “Boris”. Tu sam podijelila svoja razmisljanja od britanskom premijeru koji me osvojio na pres konferencijama u ovih godinu dana. Kad je Sara procitala tekst prvo me pitala dali sam postala konzervativka, a onda je iznijela kontra argumente I odlucno dodala “Mama, niti ja niti moji prijatelji ne mislimo da je on toliko dobar premijer I ja odbijam editirati tvoj tekst. Ne zelim da ga objavis.” Poslusala sam ju, jer Sara je ipak moj editor. Drugi neobjavljeni tekst pod naslovom “Americka glumica I Britanska palaca” napisala sam pred par dana. U tekstu sam pokazala svoj nedostatak razumijevanja I suosjecanja prema mladom kraljevskom paru u Americi. Ukratko, smatarm da je Harry pustio da ga kroz zivot vodi zena koja za tu ulogu nema niti dovoljno znanja niti adekvatno siroke horizonte. Na tu sam temu dugo diskutirala sa Sarom I ona mi je njezno objasnila da postoji I drugi nacin gledanja na citavu pricu. Nije promijenila moje misljenja, ali mi je pomogla da shvatim ljude koji misle drugacije.

Uzivam u svemu sto radim sa svojom kceri I sretna sam sto mi I ovaj blog pomaze da premostimo udaljenost od nekoliko sati voznje kao I restrikcije putovanja koji nas sada dijele.

Draga moja djevojcice, beskrajno te puno volim I ponosim se sa tobom.

S ljubavlju

Kristina




Nedelja, 14. Ozujka 2021.



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