A Tribute to Mothers

If you are lucky you are born to one mother..................if you are really lucky you have many mothers. (I have totally butchered this quote and have no idea where I first hear it)

I have been blessed with many "mothers" in my life and last night I had the opportunity to reconnect with one of them. It's amazing how, despite the years that have passed, I am still in awe of this woman and her strength. It got me thinking about how lucky I am to have been shaped by so many wonderful, wise, strong, beautiful women and how I hope to someday play a similar role, not just for my daughter(s??) but for the children of my lovely friends.

I was born to a mother whose fierce love and protection I have never ever doubted. I remember being absolutely horrified when I was asked in elementary school to interview my mother and her answer to "what did you want to be when you grew up" was "a mother." This was a complete travesty to me, didn't she also want to be a marine biologist, librarian, the first woman president, a business woman, a lipstick wearing success? I didn't understand then that she was successful at many things but being a mother meant the most to her. This conversation stuck with me, and the knowledge that my mother not only wanted me but enjoyed her role as my mom has given me strength and courage and a sense of place and security that I continue to draw from.

Throughout my childhood and adolescence I was lucky enough to have wonderful relationships with several women in the small community in which I was raised. I adopted these women as aunts or some as my "other mothers" and it was with them, as I worked my way through those awkward high school years, that I was able to talk about things I couldn't share with my own parents. It was from these women that I learned about different ways of living; I learned about heartbreak and marriages and relationships that don't work out, I learned about heels and make-up and pedicures and was introduced to writers like Dorothy Parker and Joan Didion and magazines like Vanity Fair and Vogue and The Sun. These women added to and enriched my life and had a hand in making me the person I am today.

When I left for college I was lucky enough to find yet another "mother" who generously opened her home and family to me when I needed a quiet place to study, a home cooked meal or just some "family" time. Throughout college and into the trials of finding a "real job" I knew I could always count on her for a mom-hug, the kind where your whole body relaxes and you feel restored. Knowing her home and hugs were only ever a phone call away made living at the opposite end of the state from my own mom bearable. Knowing that my San Diego mother was one of my mom's dear old friends, someone she stayed up late talking, working on crossword puzzles and giggling, made her home and open arms even sweeter to me.

Now, 3000 miles away from home I still feel my mother's love right down to my core. Seeing Louise last night and immediately falling right into conversation where we last left off made me realize how lucky I am and how all of these wonderful women are never far from me, they have all helped to make me who I am today and I carry them all in my heart.