My Mom 2/22/2001
You know, with all my complaining, I never really realized how cool my mom can be. When I was younger, I used to treat her like crap. I used to revere my dad; I'd tell him everything that was going on in my life. From the eyes of a fifteen year old, my mother was too serious, she never really went out with her friends, and she was soooo strict. My dad was the greatest thing next to sliced bread: he was funny, he took me on cool errands, he always bought me junk food and candy, etc. As I've gotten older, I've realized things aren't always what they seem. My mother was serious because she had to be. She raised four kids, virtually by herself because my father has always worked long hours, and she was trying to get her master's degree at the same time. She never went out with her friends because she was too busy taking care of me, my sister, and my brothers. And she was strict because she had to be; my father really never laid out any rules. I'm not dissing my father, because he's taken great care of us, but he's not the god I imagined him to be, and my mom's not the evil troll I used to think she was. My mom's a really neat person who's given a lot of things up for her kids.
The reason this revelation has hit me is because of the admissions process I had to go through lately. My mother has always been first to volunteer to help me with the college essays, or to look something up for me. My dad was too busy on his computer or hanging out with his friends to really help. Like today, she took me out driving in bad weather plus I was in a bad mood and I was being mean to her.
I had discovered an on-line service where you can ask questions about college and a guidance counselor or a person on an admissions staff would answer your question. I explained my situation with the SAT's and my desire to go to Rochester and the guy basically told me to prepare for a letter of denial because the SAT and typos really hurt me. Understandably, that put me in a bad mood which I unjustifiably took out on my mom.
She said some really great stuff to me. She said "Artist, any college that would accept you is a plus for THEM. You're hardworking and you're smart, an attribute to any school." She has always put so much faith in me. I told her what the guy said and she replied, "Yeah? What does he know? Your fantastic grades, extracurriculars, essay, and recommendations have to mean something. An 1170 isn't terrible. And I can't believe they're going to penalize you for something as petty as a typo." Honestly? I know that my mother's faith may be blind sometimes, but I just felt so much better... So, the moral of the story is, things aren't always what they seem to be. A person who you've always looked down upon may be the person who picks you up when you're down.
Until later
Artist
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