Some of the stereotypes are true. She does sometimes interrogate me like I'm on the witness stand and she's cross-examining me. She does sometimes use her "lawyer-voice" when disciplining me. She does work into the dead of night and she does get up at an ungodly early hour of the morning. She wears the business suits and carries the briefcase and the black purse. She always looks forward instead of ruminating in the present. She's practical and logical and calculated.
She's also one of the strongest, kindest and most loving people I've ever known in my entire life.
Everything she's done has been for her children. She's made sacrifice after sacrifice for us. She works those long hours for us, to put all four of us through college. She wears those business suits and acts as she does so people take her seriously. She practices her craft to defend us against anything that may hurt us. She is the woman I aspire to be.
She has taught me what it means to excel in spite of any obstacle. She has shown me how to be compassionate and how to be strong. She has shown me when to be soft and forgiving and when to be hard. She's taught me everything I know about the world, about humanity, about people, about how to live.
On a less serious note, many people tell me I'm fantastic at arguing which can also be attributed to her. I practiced the sport all the time when I was child, most often with my mother as my opponent. We argued about everything and anything — what I wore to church, when I did my homework, what I ate, what I watched. I got less angry as I got older, which means we argued less, but I never lost the skill. I still utilize it, even today, in situations that warrant desperate measures.
Having a lawyer for a mother comes with connotations and expectations. But I wouldn't trade the life I've had and the mother I have for anything. She is my best friend, my role model, and my anchor. Without her, I have no idea where I'd be right now. Certainly not succeeding in college and certainly not happy.
I will never take for granted the life she's given me and I will always cherish her. To all you folks that think lawyers are complete hard-asses: you clearly have never had one as a parent.
