In our last newsletter, I wrote about how, when you look at a person, you can look into their past. They are a representation of all the events and people that have come before and influenced their looks, their skills and interests, even what country they live in.

Mother’s Day is a wonderful time for each of us to reflect on our own past and think about the women from whom we inherit aspects of who we are, and who we turned out to be. My mom has been gone 15 years now, and while she and I had a fairly contentious relationship, I loved her, and there are many skills and traits she gave me for which I am thankful.

Mom didn’t graduate from high school – she went back years later to get her GED, for which I was always proud of her – yet she was one of the most talented and creative women I knew.

She grew up in the shadow of the recession to which her parents lost the family house. As a result of that devastating blow, she gained a resourcefulness that served her well her entire life, and that she passed on to me.

When my sister and I were little, she earned extra money by sewing dance costumes for some of the girls in our neighborhood who took ballet. As I watched her carefully sewing the delicate beads onto the intricate costumes, I desperately wanted to dance, which finances and distance from the dance school made impossible. I promised myself I would learn both to sew and to dance. That Christmas, she asked what I wanted as a gift, and I revealed my wish. I could barely breathe when I opened the box and found my heart’s desire – a red ballerina costume, complete with little red hat, made lovingly by my mother.

And of course, there are hundreds of other fond memories…of making ornaments and cookies for multiple holidays, of camping trips and watching fireworks, of concerts when I knew she and my father were proudly watching from the audience.

There are also the many questions I wish I had asked her…about her childhood… about our relatives and ancestors… about being a parent and how she managed it, especially after my father passed away.

On this coming Mother’s Day, if your Mother is alive, I invite you to pick one memory or one trait and share with her how she influenced you to walk in her steps. If she is not, why not pick one of those favorite memories and share it with friends or family so her legacy of love lives on.

To all our readers, I wish you a Happy Mother’s Day.

Written as Editor of BeyondtheNest.com and originally published in the May 11, 2017 issue.