Ode to mom

Let’s see if we can make her cry, shall we?

I haven’t always been grateful to my mother. When I was a teenager I could be a real bitch to her (and to my brother, although he wasn’t always nice to me either). When you are that age, you don’t realize that everything is not normal. It is not normal that your mother raises you all by herself, it is not normal that she spends all her money on you and your brother, but she doesn’t buy nice things for herself and it is not normal that she doesn’t always do everything for you so you learn to do things for yourself.

Back then, if she wouldn’t drive me to school when it rained, I thought she was being selfish. And when I had to start doing my own laundry, I didn’t like the extra chores. When my brother and I both had to start cooking every week, I felt annoyed because I didn’t like to cook and I wasn’t any good at it. I took it for granted when she spent a lot of money on redecorating my room, just because I wanted to move to the attic and get a bigger space.

And now I am so grateful for it all. Because now, I know how to cook, I know how to do my laundry, and when I left my mothers nest at age 17 I was a lot more developed than many other students my age.
I learned practical skills from her like fixing the television and putting together IKEA furniture. Once, I helped a friend move, and even though I showed up in high heels and a skirt (which was not really practical, but it looked pretty nonetheless) when it came to putting together a very difficult IKEA table, I could do it without any help, leaving my friend and her family with a look of surprise on their faces.

I know now that I shouldn’t take all her sacrifices for granted and being (sort of) an adult myself now, I don’t know if I would ever be able to do what she did. (How ’bout it mom, getting teary yet?)

I always called her when I just left home. I called her with the smallest questions, like: at how many degrees do I wash my red sweater, or how long do I need to cook potatoes, how do I install a new program on my computer… She always answered patiently and now I don’t have to call so often. I learned a lot of the things I know from her (although she still has to teach me how to use silver polish, because up until now I have only been using her skills for that) and now I don’t have to call her so often anymore. And now I can even give her advice or teach her something occasionally ;)

Whenever I need to make a big decision, I always call her. And it’s not even because I expect her to tell me what to do, because she doesn’t. But by telling her the whole story, I get some perspective myself, and usually by the end of the conversation, I will know what to do. And sometimes, I even already knew before starting the conversation.

She taught me to think for myself, instead of letting other people think for me. Because of my mother, I am independent. I can take care of myself and I do. And I believe that that is one of the main reasons why I am able to go on an adventure like this.

So, credit where credit’s due. And in this case, a lot of the credit goes out to mommy dearest. Even if I were as annoying as Stewie, she would have kept her patience.

I love you mom, and I am very, very grateful for the way you raised me and the way you continue to support me in everything I do. I’m definitely not taking it for granted anymore and I am well aware of your part in how my life turned out.

So thank you.