I’ve always struggled with patience—waiting for results of a test or for a package to arrive, staying unperturbed in the face of an angry, non-listening adult or child. Borrowing a saying from my mom, I’m a watching pot that never boils.
My mom, however, does not seem to have the dearth I have. As someone who works with children, she daily handles tantrums and outbursts that could easily drive anyone bonkers, meeting them with questions and care and calm.
Some could say it’s a trait that you pick up on the job, but I believe hers is innate. She carries it throughout her life, keeping her cool as people around her – young and old – melt down.
It is one of the reasons I admire her so.
While it may be cliché to choose my mom as the person who inspired me and continues to, it would be untrue to say that someone has had a larger impact on my life or in shaping my worldview.
When others shut people out, she has kept reaching, sustaining bonds that have become important to our family and showing me that third or fourth chances are not the worst thing to give.
She’s quirky and fun, giving me the confidence to embrace my own eccentricities. In the face of status quo, she doesn’t change her opinions to match the majority, but follows her heart and relies on her empathy and has guided her children to do the same.
She and my dad have encountered obstacle after obstacle, but never stopped finding ways to climb over them. In times of self-doubt, she buoyed me in ways I couldn’t do myself. Even when she worried about me, she let me spread my wings and cheered me on as I flew.
If that does not embody someone to aspire to be like, I don’t know what does. |THIS.
[By Sarah Razner]
Sarah Razner is a reporter of real-life Wisconsin by day, and a writer of fictional lives throughout the world by night.
[THISENT.com has teamed with ThePromptMag.com to celebrate Women’s History Month by honoring a “Wonder Woman” that has impacted our lives.]
