I'm going to be honest: growing up, I was a total Daddy's girl. I was his little buddy and I spent a lot more time with him than I did with my mum. When I was eight and my dad got sick, things started to change. He was away a lot in the hospital, and I had to become strong and brave and good for my mum. I tried not to make things more difficult for her because I knew how stressful it was for her working full-time, dealing with my dad's business, and taking care of me and my brother. When I was ten, my dad died, and then it was just me and my mum (my brother was 20 at the time and he sort of came and went). Slowly, my mum and I grew closer. At first it was out of necessity - we had to stick together during those dark days, but then I realized she was more than just a mother. She was a friend. By the time I hit my mid-teens, she was my best friend. We did things together, went places together, and I wasn't embarrassed to be seen with her the way a lot of my friends were with their mothers.
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| My mum has gone above and beyond for my brother and me. She is the epitome of the selfless mother. |
My Grama was another of my best friends. She and I were kindred spirits. She was always interested in what I was doing, and I loved hearing about her life. I asked her a million questions and she never got tired of answering them. She was always involved in something - she learned how to use a computer when she was 88, and learned how to paint when she was in her 90s. She did knitting and tatting, loved crossword puzzles and sudoku, and loved to read. She also participated in all the activities at her nursing home. She was a lifelong learner and loved to figure out how things worked. She was fascinated with my cell phone and computer, and was always asking questions (guess I come by that curiosity naturally!). When I was 17 and emailed her from France, she couldn't get over the fact that I could send her a message from halfway across the world. She was my biggest fan, and like my mum, always showed support and encouragement. When she died, a little part of me died with her, and I don't think anything will ever fill the hole she left in my heart. Not a day goes by that I don't miss her, but I know she lived a long, happy life, and I know she'd be proud of what I'm doing with my own life.
Both my mum and Grama are the type of people that everyone loves instantly. They have this inner light that shines through and people are attracted to that. They both make friends everywhere they go, and make people feel good about themselves. I hope someday to be that type of person. I hope people will see me as good and kind with an inner beauty that radiates like the sun, and I'll tell them I got that from my mum and my Grama. I hope to be as good a mother to my own children as my Grama was to my mum and as my mum is to me. If I can manage that, my kids will be pretty damn lucky.
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| The two women who made me the person I am today |
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