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Gabriela Jacobo's mom is a Jehovah's Witness. Many of her memories of childhood are overlaid with the prayers of her mother. But Gabriela has other memories too, memories of never celebrating a birthday, never being able to exchange Valentine's Day cards with friends in elementary school, never being allowed to celebrate anything but God because of her mother's religion. In this first-person narrative that mixes Spanish and English, Gabriela wonders whether she lost her mom when her mom found God.
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Piece Description
Gabriela Jacobo's mom is a Jehovah's Witness. Many of her memories of childhood are overlaid with the prayers of her mother. But Gabriela has other memories too, memories of never celebrating a birthday, never being able to exchange Valentine's Day cards with friends in elementary school, never being allowed to celebrate anything but God because of her mother's religion. In this first-person narrative that mixes Spanish and English, Gabriela wonders whether she lost her mom when her mom found God.
6 Comments
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Review of Jehovah's WitnessUp close and personal Jehovah's Witnesses can be wolves in sheep's clothing.
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Review of Jehovah's WitnessGabriela’s mother discovers a religion that promises a joyful reunion with her deceased mother, but she may loose her son and daughter in the process. Gabriela’s intimate essay starts off with her mother praying in Spanish, from here Gabriela leads you through her pain in a quiet and longing voice. Her mother reappears; the stark difference in the tone of their voices and even the two languages emphasizing the emotional distance between them. The prayer returns, the mother’s religious fervor making her deaf to the girl’s need for love and affection. The writing and sound flow masterfully. This short, captivating piece shows a youth’s perspective on family relations and the affects of God and religion in an individual’s life. |
Transcript
Intro: Youth Radio?s Gabriela Jacobo grew up in a religious house, but has struggled with her own religious identity for years. She sent us her story.
13:32 ?Padre nuestro??
GABBY: The little I have of my childhood memories is filled with my mother?s prayers. I remember hearing my mom praying before we ate, and at times before we went to sleep.
??tu hijo Jesus Cristo, amen.?
GABBY: My mother spent her childhood searching for a tangible relationship with god.
Spanish
GABBY: My mom told me she knew there was a god, but she didn?t know how to find him, or talk to him, because he wasn?t very real to her. But she still believed.
Spanish
GABBY: Years later, my mom met a woman when she was walking home from picking us up at a bus stop. And something changed. In a way her challenge with god was over, she not only found god, but after meeting this woman, she found...
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Sandra Chen
Posted on September 28, 2009 at 11:28 PM | Permalink
YEB review of "Johovah's Witness"
Gabriela Jacobo's radio piece was extraordinarily powerful for such a short piece. It was not very complex. Her mother prays in Spanish in the background as Jacobo tells the story of her mother's detachment from her children for her attachment to Gob. Jacobo is very deliberate with every word, slow and careful, as if giving each word it's own weight and thought. I've known religion to form a rift between parent and child, but the rift that Jacobo speaks of is not as simple. It is a rift created by her mother's belief of God and her devotion to her children through God. There is a brief interlude where a children's Christian song plays and Jacobo wishes to appreciate God the way other children do. The entire piece was rife with these heart-pulling moments. It was simple and perfect, for such a complex piece.