Last night I realized I really like
writing about people in my life. This doesn't really have much
to do with my exchange but, keeping with the previous theme, I'm
going to write about the person who has supported me my whole entire
life and loves me no matter what kind of shenanigans I get myself
into.
This is my mom:
You can usually find my mom out on the
porch reading a book, unless she's busy being Super Woman. My
mom is such a hardworking and loving woman. She spends her days
in a classroom with nearly 30 nine and ten year old kids. It
amazes me that she is able to go to work every day with a smile on
her face when she has so many kids to teach. Every time I visit
her, within an hour of being there I ask her how the heck she does
what she does. She is constantly being bombarded by "Mrs.
Johnson!"s and kids walking around aimlessly asking her what to
do, but some how she finds time to teach these kids about her love
for reading and writing. She teaches kids to be curious; to ask
questions and find answers. She lets the kids use different kinds of
technology to share their information and teaches them how to blog
and have fun with their writing. I was able to go into work
with my mom last year for the last week or so and on one of the the
last days of school, the class got to Skype with an author of one of
the books they just read. The author asked how many of the
students wanted to have a career in writing, and at least half of the
kids raised their hands. Later, my mom asked each of the
students what their favorite part of the year was and nearly every
student's answer had something to do with writing, reading or Poetry
Friday.
After my mom finishes teaching these
kids, she will usually do even more to make herself a better teacher.
Nothing is impossible for my mom. She wanted to go back
to school, so she and I stayed up late this summer studying math for
her test. I know the math was hard for her; she's been doing
4th grade math for 20 years, but she knew that she had to understand
it in order to pass the entrance exam, and she worked
through all of it, and passed! Now after working in the
classroom, she is going to OSU to get her doctorate. She
loves to learn and will set a goal, and not give up until she's
reached that goal.
After my mom has spent a long day in
the classroom, she comes home to be a mom. Of all of the roles
she plays, I think she plays "mom" best. She will
support my brother, sister and I during anything. When
Zach had his little college hopping stage last year, I think he
nearly drove her insane, but she never thought about telling him that
he couldn't go to the college he wanted to go to. She watched
her first born daughter move all the way to California, multiple
times for work, which was really hard for the whole family, and
therefore hardest on Mom.
After hosting Sana, (oh yeah, my mom
has another daughter all the way in India. We were all broken hearted
when she went back home.) my mom knew I wanted to be an exchange
student, and seeing all of the opportunities that have been opened to
Sana, she wanted it for me as well. I could tell early on how
hard it was going to be on her for me to leave, but, as the most
amazing mom in the world, she let me go.
When I was fifteen, I went through my
"I hate my mom" stage. Looking back, I had no reason
whatsoever to think my mom was stupid or to not her like her to any
extent, but when you're a freshman in high school, you do silly
things that you will never completely understand looking back. I
mean, all moms have their crazy moments, but I really overreacted to
them I guess. Although I hated my mom, and thought she was
stupid, she still allowed me to go off on a short term exchange to
Spain when I was sixteen. I think my time in Spain really
helped the relationship between my mom and I. When I didn't
have my mom around me to fight with when I needed to fight, or hug
when I needed a hug, I missed her so much! My host sister was
going through her "I hate my mom" stage when I was in
Spain, and I really liked my host mom, so I was able to see that moms
really aren't that bad. I realized how much my does to help me,
and that I was stupid for ever deciding I needed to fight with her.
My mom always tells me about how when I
was born, I was a little tiny, six weeks early, five pound
baby. I wasn't in the best health, as you can imagine, being
six weeks early, my lungs were not fully developed and I had no
eyebrows (the eyebrows have nothing to do with my health, I just
think it's hilarious to picture myself without eyebrows). The
nurses took little tiny me away to go feed me, but I wouldn't let
them feed me! I wanted my momma to feed me, because she is my mom and
I wanted to be with her! I mean, I had to come out six weeks
early to see her, I didn't want the doctors to take me away! Once
I was healthy, my mom stayed home with my brother and I until I
started kindergarten. My mom loved to spend time with Zach and
I, and she always had something fun planned for us. Sometimes I
even got to watch daytime soap operas. That was a treat. :)
I could never, ever, ever, ever, ever,
ever, ever ask for a better mom. Ever. My mom is the most
supportive, encouraging, and kind women I have ever met. My mom
has always been there for me, whether I fell off my bike, got a
bad grade, or been sick she has been able to help me through
everything. She has raised my siblings and I to be open minded, and
curious. My mom is an amazing teacher, student, sister,
learner, daughter, friend, baker (especially baker...mmm... I miss
her food) and mom. I will never truly be able to tell her how
much I appreciate her support over the last 17 and a half years.
It's going to be hard this year not having her with me to get
me through the hard times, but I guess that's growing up and becoming
an adult. I know she won't always be around to write a strongly
worded letter to an unappreciated employer, or pay for me
to have the cool new piece of technology, but I'm always going to
remember the great times I had with her growing up. From making
cookies after kissing bruised knees, to picking out prom dresses,
she's always been there.
So, after my mom opens her heart to
everyone around her and is helpful in every way possible, that is
when you'll find her sitting on the porch reading a book. And
although this book reading means she is trying to relax after a long
day, it doesn't mean she has stopped being my mother. She will
always be my mom, and I will always see her as Super Woman.
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