i’ve never told her this (whoops in advance!) but when i was in middle school, i found my mom’s diary from high school!
we had the day off from school; mom was at work. i was bored, on top of already being extremely nosy.
as i sat in my mom’s bed, reading such a private piece of her history, filled with sneaking out of the house, petty fights with her sister & boy crushes, my perspective of her changed forever.
first of all – it was the moment i realized my mom had actually been a teenager. like she actually went to high school & had friends. this was NEW. never had i ever put two & two together that she wasn’t perpetually a 40 year old woman . . .
i went from looking at her as my unrelateable mother to a woman who has been through some of the same things as me.
i hated that i snooped around & found her diary, but i think it was for the best. (please see it that way, mom!!)
did i suddenly respect my mom? did i stop talking back? did i think she was the coolest? did i do a bunch of unnecessary chores to make up for the guilt of the invasion of privacy?
unfortunately, no.
i continued to be her impossible teenage daughter. she always, always, always said,
“i hope you have a daughter JUST like you!”
& my smartass reply:
“me too! i’m awesome!”
sigh.
it amazes me how we made it through those rocky teenage years.
my mom & i are exactly 30 years apart. and as I’ve grown up and become a wife and a mom, i have seen my beautiful mom as not just as my mom, but as a real-life human.
my mom is one of the most independent, smart women i have ever met.
she is disciplined, kind, diligent & honest.
one time i just did not want to go school & my mom said “ok, that’s fine.” i asked her to write me a note & say i was sick so the absence would be excused & she wouldn’t.
“i’ll write a note that says you didn’t want to go to school – but i won’t lie & say you were sick.”
she’s that kinda mom.
she’s the kinda mom that when i came home crying because i got in a fight with one of my friends, she would usually take the side of my friend.
it sounds awful – but it wasn’t. it was real. she was real. she is such an amazing woman.
as most moms do, she has always put me & my brother before herself. she has cared for me in the best way she knows how.
i know it wasn’t an easy ride to have me as a daughter . . . just read MY diary from high school 😉
she was independent & certainly raised an independent woman. i have so many characteristics for which i thank my mom.
love you, me
