In honor of the day, I'd like to state, for the record, that I think I have the world's best mother! She's always been there for me, and worked extremely hard to give me the chance to take all the opportunities that came my way. My father passed away when I was 11, so my mother was forced into being a single parent against her will. She ran her own small-but-successful health food store to support us, and only just retired last year, at the age of 75! She's a compassionate, kind, and giving person and I'm grateful that she is my mother.
One of the things that I really appreciate about my mother is that she always encouraged me to be an individual and to follow my dreams. There are many forces in this world that push us into being the same. However, my mother raised me to be independent, spirited, and individualistic, and never challenged my benign choices. Her philosophy as a parent was, "allow your child to do what she want as long as it does not hurt her or others." I think it was a great method. My mother trusted me to make the right choices, and, as a consequence, I think I did pretty well. When I was growing up, I knew a lot of people whose parents treated them like they were untrustworthy criminals, and wanted them to merely be mirrors of their own image, rather than allowing their children to grow into their own people. By focusing on the negative, those parents often ended up with children making negative choices. I am so grateful that my mother always allowed me to be myself, focused on the positive, and allowed me to make my own decisions about life. I definitely have benefitted from her sage parenting.
Here is a photo I took of her in late 2007:
My Mother (2007)
Camera: Polaroid Sx-70
Film: Polaroid Time-Zero
And I've written a couple of other posts about my mother here and here.
And, if you're inclined, please check out my mother's crochet shop for Blythe!
Happy Mother's Day!
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