A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith is my favorite book because it reminds me so much of my mother, and how she managed to rise up in a society where there were more negative influences than positive ones.  I found out about this book because it is my mother’s favorite book too and she always encouraged me to read it.  Growing up in a poorer neighborhood in South Philadelphia, my mother was surrounded by many negative things.  For example, drugs, mobs, and robberies.  She could not wait to leave and knew she wanted to give her kids an even better life than she had.  My grandparents were very supportive and loving, they encouraged my mother to work hard so she could achieve her dreams of becoming a physician.

In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the main character, Francie Nolan, is growing up in a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York.  Francie is surrounded by many negative influences.  For example, her father is an alcoholic and her Aunt Sissy has been married to multiple different men.  Through all of this negativity, Francie managed to learn from her family’s mistakes rather than follow in their footsteps.

“The something which had been a future was now a present and would become a past.”  This quote reminds me just how fast life goes by and how truly important time is.  I have always kept it in the back of my mind.

I spend many days a week dreading the amount of homework I know I am going to have to complete that night.  Although, when I finish my work each night, I think to myself “that wasn’t too bad.”  It is natural for people to stress themselves out over something rather than remembering that most things that seems big now, won’t mean much in the future.

For example, is the 65 you got on one geometry test back in sophomore year really going to be that devastating when you are 30?  Or is the kid who dumped you senior year really going to torment you for the rest of your life?  No, everyone moves on eventually even though they tend to believe that the situation they are currently in is permanent.  This quote has made me realize that most things in life aren’t worth the constant stress because eventually they will pass.

To continue, most people can agree that life goes by very fast.  This is due to the fact that there is simply no exact amount of time it takes for someone to truly complete their whole life and all the goals that come with it.  No one will die and be able to say that they achieved every single thing they hoped to in life, and that’s just reality.

What is important is that we try to achieve as much as we possibly can with the time we are given.  While spending time at your grandmom’s house seems uninteresting at the moment.  Yet when she is gone, you will look back and wish you could just have a few more minutes to spend with her, and have just a few more memories to hold on to.

This quote reminds me that the amount of time you have to live your life is limited, but that is no excuse to not take advantage of every opportunity you get because if you hold back, eventually it will be too late.