I cannot forget my mother,
She is my bridge.
- Renita Weems

I am, in many ways, a carbon copy of my Mother. We look alike (minus the coloring which I inherited from my Dad), talk alike (except my voice is more monotone), write alike, and have very similar personalities. My Mom can be very no non-sense but has an amazing sense of humor. When the occasion calls for it she can be a sarcastic smartass which, of course, she blames on and says she learned from her five children.

My Mom is my role model in life. Before I do something I wonder what my Mom would think, how she would act, and use her to judge the merits of a situation. She is the first person I call when I’m overjoyed, when I’m sad, and anything major happens in my life. She knows the words to say when I call in tears over something. She offers sound advice, opinions, but never tells me what I have to do. She is my teacher and wants me to live my life for myself. She is my best friend and my best Mother. I couldn’t have scored a better Mom since in my opinion there is none better.

With an amazing tolerance, she has put up with a lot of crap my brothers and I have done through the years (finger pointed mostly at the brothers, of course). She has let us spread our wings and fly at a young age. Mom let us fall and scrape our knees with the knowledge she would be there to kiss our injuries better and push us forward again. Mom makes us examine the situations not as failures but rather learning experiences. She backed me 100% when, at fifteen, I decided to move abroad for a year as an exchange student in Japan. Mom kept me informed of the happenings at home in the States and loved getting my letters back (teasing me as my English progressively got worse from lack of use). Walking up the escalators upon arriving back she had written “Welcome Home” in Japanese in a long banner my family had hung up. I felt more loved (and embarrassed) in my life seeing that sign before my Mom wrapped her arms around me to welcome me back. A mothers loving embrace.

Encouraging, she pushes me forward in my pursuits. When I decided to go to art school instead of a regular four-year, she encouraged that route and helped me pursue my dreams. After working the field for a year I decided to go back to school which required me to move out of state (seeing as my art school didn’t have the Bachelors). With a smile on her face she and Dad helped me pack the last items into the moving van at four in the morning the day of departure. Even now, at twenty-four, when I do something artistic or major in my life she is the first person I will show. I respect her opinion and she’ll give me an honest critique. She’s taught me to take the critique as not a personal attack but rather as something to expand upon, work on, and perfect in my road to learning all that interests me. This characteristic has helped me so much professionally (both creatively and in working with others).

She is one of the most creative people I know. Two rooms in my parents house have been taken over by her quilting. A childhood memory of mine is having quilts all over the house, lovingly pieced together by Mom to give us warmth and love in times of need. They made excellent forts when I was little. She taught me how to quilt and knows I can do it but lack the patience. A fond memory in 1997 when we were visiting England was her teaching me how to do origami quilted flowers so I could help her with sewing them (and probably shut me up from complaining “are we there yet?”).

The older I get the more I realize I am turning into my Mother. If I even turn out to be half the woman my Mom is I’ll consider myself lucky.

To my Mother, best friend, and instructor on all the fine points in life: I love you and enjoy your day. You are loved and cherished by your baby girl.

I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.
- Abraham Lincoln

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