Thank you Mom

I was talking with my mother today, who is by far my greatest fan. We were discussing my ability to take what I feel and think and put it into beautiful words. She told me that she had never been able to do that. I made sure to thank her for setting me on this path.

I know some of you may have heard this story before but it is worth a second telling. Once when I was 13 or 14, I was angry with someone and I expressed my frustration to her. I remember the exact moment as we sit in her car at the riverfront. She suggested that I write them a letter. Once written, she said to read it to see if it said what I wanted it to say. If not re-write it and read it again. She advised me to keep doing this until it said exactly what I wanted it to say. I did that and after several re-writes, I began to see that my anger was misplaced, that my issue was really insignificant.

This was before computers, yep, highschool rule notebook paper and each was a total re-write.

That started me on the path of the writer. I learned that day that words have power. That I could leverage that power in such a way as to make my life better. With age came maturity, In that maturity, I began to understand that I could use that same power to make the lives of others better. That through my words I could bring new ideas, honesty, and different points of view to those around me. What started as a method of self-preservation evolved into a way to invoke emotions in the lives of others. To remind them that beauty still yet remains in this world.

I owe my mother so much that I could never repay her, not just for that lesson. She has been an inspiration to me and still is every day. When I tell you she is my biggest fan I am in no way exaggerating. But I think that is how life should be, and I take comfort in the fact that I know that she is always in my corner. I got really lucky having her in my life.

BTW my mom told me, after I thanked her, even though the writing thing wasn't one of her strong points, having good ideas is.

If you wonder where I get it from...there it is.