I have really small feet. I get that from my mom. At age 25, I can still shop in the kids’ section if I want to (and I’m ok with that…it’s usually a lot cheaper there – another thing I get from my mom: the ability to sniff out a good deal). Now, my mom may have little feet, but I know I have some big shoes to fill if I am ever to become a fraction of the woman that she is. For she is:
Loving.
Giving.
Beautiful.
Patient (most of the time).
Smart.
Supportive.
Hardworking.
A great cook, second only to her own mom, my brilliant grandma (who, in case you were wondering, also has tiny feet).
A good friend.
Multitalented.
Independent.
A good judge of character (she did marry my dad, after all!).
Always there.
Honest (only the way a mom can be).
Funny.
Confident.
In one word, she is…a mother. She’s not perfect (sorry, Mom, I know you may be reading this – she occasionally follows our blog because A Woman’s Place (AWP) is important to me and therefore important to her, too), but she’s arguably the best mother that me, my brother, and my sister could ask for. And, though I have no experience being one myself, I believe it takes a special person to be a mother, because you can’t just be all these things; you have to be able to teach these things.
My mom has certainly done her part. So have all the other “moms” in my life: my Godmother, whom I can always count on; both my grandmothers, who taught me to be strong in the face of hardship; my “AWP moms”, who remind me to take care of myself when I fail to do so. I admit I often take these women for granted, but I hope they all know how much they mean to me. Not just today but every day, because motherhood is a lifelong career.
So to all the women who have chosen the job that is never done…
Christina Baer
Education & Training Manager