It was Mother’s Day this past Sunday and I decided to take the completely original move of writing about my mom. I know no one else has ever undertaken this bold creative step before, but I think I can make something memorable out of it.
All kidding aside, I would like to do something a little more than the usual “thank you, Mom, for all the awesome things you’ve done for me” pieces that dominate the internet every May. Instead, I’d like to go deeper and really think about exactly how my mom has shaped me and just how grateful I am for it.
I don’t think most children ever fully realize how much their parents shape them. I consider myself extremely fortunate that I am able to recognize the myriad ways my parents have influenced me, particularly my mother. In recognition of that, I’ve decided to dedicate a short list of the things I am most grateful to you, my mom, in helping to shape a better me.
The first and most obvious thing is I am grateful to you for is giving birth to me and thereby allowing me to exist. I don’t think enough people fully realize the debt they owe their parents for bringing them into the world. I know that wasn’t exactly pleasant for you as you so often remind the rest of our little family, how you gave birth to my sister and me without drugs, but I think it bears mentioning all the same.
I am grateful to you for beating (not literally) the pessimism out of me. I was lucky enough to escape most of the angsty teenage rebellion phase of life, but sadly not all of it. I remember far too many cringe-worthy conversations we’d have late at night on the couch where I’d get stuck on some idea or flaw in the world and go on and on about it, while you tried to talk me out of it or into seeing the bigger picture.
At the time I thought I was being profound, while now I realize I was just an insufferable idiot. I credit your persistence (and the unknowing help of a classmate) with finally breaking me out of that mold and helping set me on the road to becoming more positive, and frankly more pleasant to be around.
I am extremely grateful to you for helping me gain emotional maturity and sophistication. The more time I spend around other guys the more I realize how out of sync they are with their emotions and how much they struggle with fully regulating and processing them, something I am comparably very skilled at and that I attribute to you.
I know it certainly had to have been difficult at many points; all the temper tantrums as a child, all my stress outs from running, all the melancholic funks in my adolescence, throughout it all you were there helping me, guiding me until I was capable of working through it on my own.
I could go on and on with examples and anecdotes about all the things that have been instrumental in making a better me that I attribute to you, but I fear I would be rambling by that point. So I guess what I am trying to say is, thank you, Mom.
Thank you for all that you have done for me and all you still are doing for me. My life has been made infinitely better by having you in it. Thank you.