When I close my eyes and think about my dad, I picture him lounging in a chair on the veranda in our home in India, wearing his white undershirt and pajama pants, reading a newspaper. It was a sight that graced every morning of my childhood for as long as I can remember.
Didn’t matter the day of the week or the month or the season ( I think he still has that brown sweater he wore over his pajamas for the colder months), I knew I’d wake up to find my dad on the veranda, drinking his chai, and the sound of the newsprint being turned and folded, as he made his way through the days news. I can’t fully describe the comfort that those simple early mornings brought to me.
Even after our move to Charlotte, NC, one of the first things he did after signing a lease to an apartment, was get a subscription of the News and Observer. He’s still a loyal subscriber after all these years. He still gets in trouble with my mom for leaving the newspaper all over the house. And I still love how he saves bits and pieces of it to share with me.
The first thing my kids see me doing every morning is pick-up my phone. Even if it is to read the days news online, I hate that I am not like my dad in this aspect! Is that crazy? Yes, perhaps, but it’s a bit of nostalgia that I want to hang on to and pass on.
A few years ago, in an effort to be sort of like him, I subscribed to the Sunday New York Times for a few weeks. I loved it so much! Until, I saw that I wasn’t able to quite sit and lounge and keep up with it every day. I’d have a whole week to finish that one Sunday edition and yet, I struggled.
Goes to show that you have to commit to a certain state of mind when being a newspaper subscriber I think – a commitment that goes beyond just reading the news, but to also learn how to slow down, to find that comfy chair, to stick with that routine no matter what the season.
I am going to be that person I have decided once I am in my permanent home.
So, tell me, are you a newspaper subscriber? Do you love it?
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