I’m extremely privileged to say that my life has been full of amazing teachers, yet there’s one woman who taught me more than any other individual: my mom. Yes, she taught me how to say my ABC’s and how to properly dress myself, but she’s also showed me so many things just by navigating her own life. In honor of the incomparable Mamma Raspanti, here are 5 things that I’ve learned from my mom that she didn’t necessarily mean to teach me.
- Listen, but really listen.
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It only takes me saying one word into the phone for my mom to tell that something is wrong. Somehow, without fail, she can sense that I’m upset or stressed just by hearing a single syllable. She’s shown me that listening with both an open ear and an open mind may just be the most caring thing you can do for another person.
- Love isn’t always easy.
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My parents have been married for 33 years, and they have shown me what true love really means, and it isn’t always roses and sunshine. Love takes hard work, teamwork, patience, and most of all a willingness to love and be loved.
- Never be embarrassed of your passions.
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My mom has supported me in everything I put my mind to, whether that be sports related, academic, professional, or otherwise. She has taught me that if it makes you smile, it’s worth your effort and dedication (even if that something is learning how to knit at age 20).
- Sometimes all you need is a nice walk, some milk, and a double chocolate muffin.
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Somehow, someway my mom knows exactly what I need right when I need it most. I tend to isolate myself when I’m sad or angry, and I snap harshly when I don’t mean to. But it’s like she can see right past all of my moodiness, because she’ll offer to take me out for a sweet something, or even just leave it on the counter for me to find. We’ll go on a walk later in the day and everything just seems to melt away. She always makes everything ok again.
- Tomorrow is a new day.
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No matter how down on your luck you may be feeling, or how angry you are about something that transpired, you have the opportunity to start all over in the morning. My mom has taught me to take things one day at a time, and that simple ideology has changed the way I go about my life. There is nothing that can’t be fixed, that can’t be improved.
