A Narrative by Lolita Andrada

1. A Shawl for Anitaby Lolita Andrada
Prepared by: Teacher Jodi Anievas Angono NHS

4.  My mother who had always been a frail
woman was much thinner now. Anita who
was married by now had never stopped
being pampered. Her lack of concern for
our mother’s failing health was getting on
my nerves. I felt like shouting at her, calling
her names when I heard her ask Mother to
knit a shawl for her.

5.  Mother had a soft heart – especially for
Anita. Anita was the youngest, and I, being
in the middle child, always envied her. She
was sickly and Mother willingly indulged
her. My sister’s whimpers never irked her.
She was ever so gentle with her while I was
so impatient and jealous. I never
understood my mother.

6. Mother could hardly refuse, but I
know that the task was just too
much for her. Her fingers had lost
their flexibility, rheumatic pain told
on her knuckles that felt on a million
pins pricking. My

7.  I never wanted to see Mother lift a finger.
She was too old to work, and we wanted to
save the burden of doing even the lightest
household chores. Mother said she felt
useless being cooped up in the house all
day, doing nothing. That was before Anita
sweet talked her into knitting her shawl. I
was beginning to hate Anita for being so
callous.

8.  Knitting the shawl might have been an
agony for Mother, but she never showed any
pain. At the end of the day, she would look at
her handwork, a smile on her lips as she
held it against her. Knitting proved to be a
slow process, but Mother didn’t mind.

9.  I only did and when Anita showed up one day
to visit Mother, I scolded her for being
thoughtless. Anita touched my arm and in a
gentle voice she said, “I did it for Mother.
That shawl is giving her reason to live. She
was wasting away, didn’t you notice? She felt
so useless because she had nothing to do,
no matter how small. Mother is one person
who prefers to live her life working. If she
stops working, she stops living.”

10. I nodded my head.
Perhaps Anita was
right. I was
beginning to
understand my
Mother.