Book author, journalist and editor Joanna Czechowska shares lessons she learned from her English mother Christine on being a good conversationalist; being thrifty, making things and never wasting anything; being strong-minded and never following the "herd"; loving literature and words; and loving music.

Joanna also talks about her mother's Catholic faith sometimes being too strict, which made her learn that people, with their imperfections and frailty, are more important than dogma. Joanna also talks about her books "The Black Madonna of Derby" and "The Sweetest Enemy", based on the experiences of her childhood in a Polish community in the UK.

To learn more about Joanna, please visit her website.

To contact Ana, please send your mail to: [email protected]

For more about "Thank You, Mama" and to subscribe to the newsletter, please visit: http://www.thankyoumama.net

To connect with Ana on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/anatajder/

https://www.facebook.com/ana.tajder

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anatajder/

https://twitter.com/tajder