To my Mom

Happy belated Mother's Day to my mom!

I had intended to post this yesterday but as I do not yet have internet access at my apartment I wasn't able to do it until today.

We all love our mom and feel like we are the luckiest kid in the world but I do believe that I may just be that lucky. I have always had a great relationship with my mom and I can honestly say that she is truly one of my best friends. I could tell you a million wonderful things about her but I'll just focus on a few.

She and my dad were always great at encouraging my brothers and I to read. We were always making trips to the book store or to the library. By reading so much I think that it opened up our eyes to the world outside of Owosso, MI. In addition, she was good at allowing us to make our choices and sometimes our own mistakes. I remember being very young and being allowed to pack my own lunch for school...this was a HUGE deal to me. I very distinctly remember her telling me "You can take 10 Twinkies if you want to but I don't want to hear about it if you get sick from them." I never did take the 10 Twinkies but I have made choices over the years that were perhaps not the best. I think that must be one of the hardest things to do as a parent...allow your children to make decisions even if you know that they are mistakes. But, if that didn't happen, how else would we learn?

I think most importantly, my mom taught me it was okay to take risks. I don't exactly how this lesson was imparted to me. I can say that I just knew it would not be comfortable to do so and you may learn that the risk was not the best thing for you but that it is better to take it and dislike it than to not take the risk at all.

I guess what I'm ultimately trying to say is that without my mom I wouldn't be who I am today. She provided me with unconditional love and support...always. (What other mom would take a call from her 18 year old saying she wanted to quit Purdue mid-semester and come home? Her only questions to me were "Are you sure?" and "When do you want me to be there?") She encouraged me to take chances and grab hold of opportunities when they present themselves. Who would have ever thought that a girl that lived in Owosso, MI for her entire childhood would end up living in Singapore...away from her husband...managing 13 countries in Asia...eating new foods...and blogging about it?

Thanks Mom. You ROCK and I love you!