5 Minute Friday: What Mama Did

It's time for my first 5 Minute Friday post!  I feel like this is a post that I could have spent hours writing (who can sum up their mom in only 5 minutes, you know?) but the rules of the post are that you get just 5 minutes.  So, here goes.  Today's prompt: Tell me all about what your mama did that made her yours…



GO:  

She is a fighter.  My mom gave birth to me at age 18, a time when she should have been partying and getting ready for her freshman year at college, and just generally caring for no one but herself.  Instead, she was becoming a mother and learning the ins and outs of taking care of a baby.  As I got older, my mom went to school at night and took on odd jobs like cleaning office buildings at night so that she could be home during our waking hours with my siblings and me.  Looking back, I realize she probably wasn't getting much sleep in those days. 

Fast forward to middle school.  I was the unfortunate victim of bullying.  My life was a living hell for those four years, but my mom always had my back.  She took on the principal, the parents of the bullies, and anyone else who dared to make life any harder for me than it should have been.  She fought for me at a time when I was too scared to fight for myself.

During this time, I was also dealing with quite a few medical issues.   My mom took me to every single doctor's appointment, x-ray, CAT scan, hospital appointment, and procedure that I had back then.  She asked questions and insisted on better care for me when she felt my doctor's weren't doing enough.  She advocated for me at a time when I didn't know enough to advocate for myself.

My mom spent my entire childhood being a fighter for me, and is still doing it for me as an adult.  Last week, she called my gynecologist's office to complain when they forgot me in an exam room after all the nurses and staff had gone home for the night.  Yes...I was mortified that at 28 years old I still had my mom fighting for me.  And, growing up, I was always embarrassed when she'd speak up for me while at the same time being SO grateful for her ability and her need to do so.

Now that I'm a mother myself, I get it.  And I so very much appreciate it because I truly don't know where I'd be today if my mom wasn't such a fighter when it came to us kids.  Sure, we had moments growing up when we argued or when I was embarrassed by her or when we disagreed on something.  We still have those moments.  But no matter what was going on with us, I always knew that my mom was there for me.  Seeing how she fought for us (and with us, at times) has given me the power to do the same for my own kids.  She taught me that I need to be an advocate for my kids when they're too little and too scared and too unknowing to advocate for themselves, and that I need to be a fighter for them always. 

That's what makes her mine...her fight.  Every good mother will fight for her child.  But only MY mother fought for me.  And it made me the woman and the mother that I am today, and I'm pretty damn proud of that.

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