Learning From My Mother: On Her 75th Birthday

When you live long enough to realize that the world isn’t all about you, then you begin to understand that every person around you has a fascinating story, a story worthy of a slow and attentive hearing, one filled with lessons to learn from if we would only ask.

This realization is particularly stark when you realize that it is true of your parents. Parents are people, with stories (for good and for bad), and not all of their life was taken up with you. They had, and still have - if they are alive - hopes, fears, dreams, insecurities, regrets, secrets, desires, hurts, and all the other things that exist in people’s inner worlds.

As my parents, and my parents in law have gotten older, I have become more and more interested in their lives and stories. This has led to a few really powerful conversations with my mother, where I have learned many things about her and from her. She has lived, and continues to live, a fascinating life, and so, today, on her 75th birthday, I wanted to share some little bits of that story with others.