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Mothers' Day
2013-05-12 22:04My Mom? I'm not gonna lie to you, she was a very troubled woman. She was mentally ill, she drank a lot, and she could be really cruel to us kids. We were both left with a lot of scars from growing up with her - I recovered, my sister didn't.
But she also taught me everything that really mattered: math and science, the names of the planets and how electricity flows through a wire. Literature and poetry, Longfellow and Simon and Garfunkel. How to think critically and logically, and to always pursue justice. Be fair to others, but don't forget to stand up for yourself.
And everything else that I learned later in life, I learned from her mistakes. And she made that possible because she never pretended to be perfect - she never pretended to be anything but what she was.
It would be tempting to say "Mom made me everything I am today" but that's not true. Your mother can't do that for you. She gives you the starting point - gives you life, brings you into this world, treats you well or treats you badly - she gives you the things you start with.
The rest is up to you.
But she also taught me everything that really mattered: math and science, the names of the planets and how electricity flows through a wire. Literature and poetry, Longfellow and Simon and Garfunkel. How to think critically and logically, and to always pursue justice. Be fair to others, but don't forget to stand up for yourself.
And everything else that I learned later in life, I learned from her mistakes. And she made that possible because she never pretended to be perfect - she never pretended to be anything but what she was.
It would be tempting to say "Mom made me everything I am today" but that's not true. Your mother can't do that for you. She gives you the starting point - gives you life, brings you into this world, treats you well or treats you badly - she gives you the things you start with.
The rest is up to you.
