childhood

It’s my Birthday: Thank you mom for helping me be fearless and giving me wings

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It is that time of year again whereby I stop, pause, and thank my mom. Well, I have always thanked my mom.   Probably not enough while she was alive. There’s never enough time. But there is always enough sadness and guilt when they depart this earth.  But it is my birthday and I don’t want to be weighed down by that guilt and sadness. I do that plenty of other days.   Today is celebratory, including the adoration of my mother.

 

See, one’s birthday is not just about oneself. My mom labored hard for me to come into this world. My birthday is a day to recognize her love and care of me from birth till she left.  Every year, I thank her on my birthday even though she is no longer around to hear my thanks. And every year, there is a different theme to my gratitude. Weird? Maybe.  I like themes, thoughtfulness, and theatricalism.  I also like alliterations. But back to this year’s theme.

 

I want to give a shout out to my mom for helping me be fearless. She helped set the seeds for that fearlessness. She herself was quiet fearful, at times. She was afraid I would get lost. She was afraid my asthma would lead to bad outcomes. She was afraid I would see her cry when we were so poor and hungry. But she always knew that I would become something. She always told me so. And thus, despite all her fears, she let me be independent. She let me grow. She let me go off into a brave new world without her.

 

I have always known these facts. But in the past three months I came to realize that she and I had that special relationship. It wasn’t one that she necessarily had with others in my family.  With me, she was strong so that I could fly even if she was scared of heights. I can never thank her enough for that. I wish that she was still with us on this earth so that I could share this thought. But I celebrate today because she not only gave me life but she also gave me wings.

 

 

Categories: childhood, Culture, Humor, identity, mental health, Psychology

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31 replies »

  12. This is a wonderful dedication and thanks to your mum, she sounds like she was a very special lady. She would be incredibly proud of you for being fearless and for everything you’re achieving. I’m very close to my mother, who’s now 70, and I try to thank her as much as I can for everything she has done for me, for the person she helped me become, as I do my best to look after her now that things are reversing.
    Happy Birthday!! I really do hope you celebrate well and have a lovely birthday week (that’s right – I don’t do birth-days any more, I think as we get older we should have a whole week!) ♥
    Caz xx

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