There are two things my mother said repeatedly to me as a child that really
stuck with me and were a big part of making me who I am as an adult.
"Who said life was fair?"
Whenever I would whine or complain about anything (and let's be honest, I
was a very whiney child), this was my mother's retort. I heard it often. I think
it instilled in me an understanding that life wasn't an endless stream of
sunshine and lollipops. Sometimes life is hard or simply annoying. This prepared
me to cope and survive all the moments that haven't been perfect.
She also said this to me a lot, but we won't get in to that.
"Not weird. Just different"
In elementary school I came home each day with stories from class or the
playground. They often included details of the (what I deemed to be) oddities of
my various classmates. Things ranging from the food they ate to the words they
used or the things they believed. To every comment of "Sally is so weird..."
would come my mother's at the ready reply of "Not weird. Just different."
I'm incredibly thankful for this particular lesson. As an adult, it has
allowed me to see past differences in order to get to know some truly amazing
people. Listening to their stories has in turn given me much greater perspective
on the world we live in. Perspective outside my 'privileged white girl'
existence, which has allowed me to grow as a person.
Thanks Mom! Happy Mother's Day!
If I went with 'b', she would tell me 'a', but I always seem to go with 'c'
