Anna-Maria Lacriola | “If you don’t know what makes you tick, what’s the point? »

” Oh my god. I was so young! » Anna-Maria Lacriola bursts out laughing as she recounts having reread this text that she had published in The Press, in December 2002, almost 22 years ago. And that’s the age she was at that time, 22.

Time has passed… “And no, I never finished my DEC,” she tells us, echoing what she wrote at the time. “But I went to college!” » As a free student, taking a certificate in creative writing, while working in the library of a primary school. It was there that she discovered a passion for children’s literature.

In 2012, her position as librarian was abolished, leaving her in complete disarray. She goes to the Magdalen Islands for a few months, then returns to Montreal in the spring. “A week later, I met my boyfriend, who already had two children aged 3 and 5, and a job at university. He encouraged me to go back to school. So I did a baccalaureate in linguistics, at 34 years old. Later, my friends admitted to me that they were sure I was going to give up! »

She laughs again. Yet she did it, her baccalaureate. Three years of full-time study, with a part-time job, a boyfriend and two young children nearby. Quite a busy few years, thank you.

Then, she landed this job as a proofreader in the federal government, which she still holds. She chose to compress her schedule to take every other Monday off. To do what ? ” To work ! I continue to do activities in libraries,” she says. “Finally, I managed to have two jobs that matter to me: one to pay for my house, and one to have fun with the children. »

And through all of that, there are meetings for the children (now teenagers), volunteering with Gisèle and the Petits Frères des Pauvres, outings to the theater or concerts… Busy weeks, in fact. Too much, sometimes? “When I feel like it’s too much, it’s because I planned poorly,” she says. So, she cleans up and leaves the activities behind.

Really ? “It seems like I have to plan things to feel busy.” And then I look at my calendar, and I find that it’s been a long week, so I cancel. There is a side of me that is very comfortable at home, on my couch…”

Basically, despite time, we don’t change that much, she notes. “My niece dropped out of CEGEP last year,” says Anna-Maria. The decision worried the parents, and brought back funny memories for her aunt. Ultimately, things turned out well for Anna-Maria, the family recalled. “My niece works, she loves what she does. You know, sometimes, when we are young, we are in a hurry to do like the others. To go to school because everyone goes to school, for example. But if you don’t know what makes you tick, what’s the point? »