When I was younger, I was convinced, in a childish, egocentric way, I knew better than my Mother. I viewed her life and choices from a judgemental, critical perspective. I failed to understand that the reason I thought independently and voiced with audacity is because I stood on her teachings, planted by her sacrifices and watered by her experiences.
My mother carried and birthed me at 16 years of age. A little over a month later, on December 31st 1990, she turned 17. She was a baby herself, but nevertheless, she parented.
Years later, when I was 17 and she was 33, I thought "How dare she? How dare she fall a part? She has responsibilities. She's a mother. She's a grown woman. She should handle life better. Her coping skills should be better."
Today, as I stand around the corner from 30, I think "How did she? It's just me. I'm college-educated. I earn more than my mother earned, but she made it work WITH three children. How did she? How did she do it? How did she stand so strong for so long? How did she recover? How does she still have faith? How did she still love and trust? How did she forgive? How does she have any semblance of sanity and peace?"
Now, I think "If she did, and I know she did, then I can. I know I will."My Mother did not teach me perfection. I saw her fail and struggle, but I witness her grow and defy. My Mother models resilience in womanhood and motherhood and life.
I wish her the happiest of birthdays. May every day of this new year, age 46 and year 2020, bring you ever more closer to joy, peace, and prosperity. I love you, Sister. I love you, SisterWoman. I love you, Mama.
"My mother's gifts of courage to me were both large and small. The latter are woven so subtly into the fabric of my psyche that I can hardly distinguish where she stops and I begin."
- Mom & Me & Mom | Maya Angelou
"She said, "All right, you go, but remember this: when you cross my doorstep, you have already been raised. With what you have learned from your Grandmother Henderson in Arkansas and what you have learned from me, you know the difference between right and wrong. Do right. Don't let anybody raise you from the way you have been raised. Know you will always have to make adaptations, in love relationships, in friends, in society, in work, but don't let anybody change your mind."
- Mom & Me & Mom | Maya Angelou
"She liberated me from a society that would have had me think of myself as the lower of the low. She liberated me to life."
- Mom & Me & Mom | Maya Angelou
"I really saw clearly, and for the first time, why a mother is really important. Not just because she feeds and also loves and cuddles and even mollycoddles a child, but because in an interesting and maybe an eerie and unworldly way, she stands in the gap. She stands between the unknown and the known."
- Mom & Me & Mom | Maya Angelou
