Super-Mom

As a teenager, adolescent years create growing stress between one and their mom. We are finding ourselves and developing independent thoughts different from our parents. The relationship we tend to have with our mom is a love-hate relationship. However, in the end, we would not know what we do without her.

Growing up I looked like the girl who had everything. No one would have expected the battle we were facing in my household. We found out that my mom had a growing tumor in her brain and throat. It was a rare form and in a vital location, which meant it was in need for special attention. My mom went through treatment and drained her in every form. We found out that my mom would have to go to a doctor in Phoenix in order for her to get the proper care she needed. This meant my parents would be leaving my sister and me for a period of time we knew would not be easy. In the moment, my emotions were in disarray. I disregarded what other people in my family were feeling.

Through the whole process, I came to admire everything about my mom. I grew to admire the fact she did not share her fear, and upheld a strong appearance even though she knew she might not make it. She went on with her daily life with a smile as big as the moon. She was gone for over a month, and came home a woman of a different appearance. I never saw my mom weak before. I actually never saw either of my parents in the despair I saw when they came home. My worries all washed away when she came and smiled at me and mouthed to me, Don’t worry. Mom is tough.

My thankfulness has grown tremendously and my appreciation for her will never dwindle. I may not show it to her all the time, but she is the strongest woman I know. She pursues her goals with no fears and teaches us all to love life, every minute of it. One of the most important things she taught me was: to love and appreciate what you have, for the day will come when those things are gone and you can never get them back.

Be Thankful for What You Have

As a child, my parents took me to the Philippines several times to visit my grandpa. I just thought of it as another trip. My trips there didn’t mean anything until I became older because I was so sheltered from what was going on around me.

My trip to the Philippines when I was 14 seemed to be different from those before. I became more attentive to the world around me. I realized it wasn’t the same as back home. We were at a stop-light and kids bombarded our car. The innocent eyes looked at me as if I was their last hope. I hid. I began to cry. I wanted to go back home. The safety of my bed could not have sounded any better than it did at that moment.

After that incident, life went on like normal, but my eyes were opened when we visited the slums of a family we sponsor. I was petrified. We got out of the car and stepped into a new world. The “house” was nothing more than four walls, a hole for a bathroom, and some mats for a bed. Girls my age had to deal with problems nobody should ever have to live with. The weird thing is they were happy. They appreciated life. The love they showed to us and others was greater than anybody I have ever known. It seemed like such a bizarre concept. As a society, we never take the time to step back and be thankful for what we have. Others are suffering, yet they look at the bright side of life.

The experiences as a child have molded me to who I am today. My trip to my own country has given me knowledge you could never gain in a classroom setting. So many people will go on living their lives never knowing how much others truly suffer. You need to live, learn, and be thankful for what you have. Sometimes it may require you to step out of your comfort zone, but you will never truly know what is going on until you experience it for yourself.

Inner Ring

I found the "Inner Ring" to be rather interesting. It really puts forth a valid point that no one really looks at. We all strive to fit in or be liked by others. We change our fashion to be "in", we go to parties to be "cool", and we get good jobs so we can look "successful". Anything you really do in life, is for others. Have you ever just done something for yourself. Not for rewards or for recognition. You may not have noticed it but you reap some sort of acceptance. With friends it is often the case. We live in a society where being "unique" is unacceptable. We need to fit standards and be approved of by eachother. It really hit me that we try to hard to be accepted. Once you are in one ring, you get bored. No one is ever fully satisfied. You may go through the heartache of being in one group, but once you are accepted into it, the outside seemed better, so you try to get into another group. Once you have something you want something else, you want more. It is like the human circle of want. You always want more. No matter what. You can never be satisfied with what you just have. Take a look around. The happiest season of them all, and yet our focus is on presents and getting the best things for eachother and hoping the same for ourselves. In reality, we all are programmed to want love. We long for love and being accepted into that inner ring gives us a sense of that. I think we need to learn to be satisfied with what we have and not long for other things we don't.

Transcendentalism

"We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds..." - Emerson

Although I didn't like reading Emerson's piece, I did love some very distinct phrases. I found him very long winded trying to repeat himself over and over.But in his piece, he had phrases, sentences, even some paragraphs that made you step back and realize how powerful his statement really is. Our society has come to live up to eachother and not their own standards. I love that statement Emerson said about doing things for ourselves and finding our own individuality. Our lives are too short to live for someone else.

The more powerful of the pieces, Thoreau's, brought me to thinking how cluttered my life is. Simplify, simplify, simplify. When in reality our thought process is "More, more, more." We feel like if we don't have something now, it might be gone later or someone else may take it. Life has become a contest with who's better than the rest. People want to beat eachother and be the best at everything. I know it's contradicting for many of us to say this, but what do grades really matter for? What would happen if we died tomorrow. Sure, we might have had hopes for the future, but that future isn't there anymore. No one realizes how short life is until it's gone. I love sayings like, "Live in the moment" or "Live like you were dying" because that's how we should live our lives. No one is going to live forever and we keep worrying about the future, we won't be enjoying the present. Someone told me to look up the meaning of present. It means gift. We should enjoy the gift we have and not worry about what may have happened yesterday, the mistakes you made today, or the things you want to do tomorrow. Figure out what you want now. Figure out what you need now. Figure out what you belive in. Because who knows what may happen tomorrow.

Tis' the Season :)

I can already sense the Christmas feeling engulfing everyone around me. Christmas is fast approaching and I feel like I'm no where near being ready. Last weekend we decorated our cabin, which is where we host Christmas Eve for my dad's side of of the family every year. It is the one thing I absolutely love. I look forward to it every year because it's something I know will always be fun. Our tradition began about 6 years ago. We used to rotate who would host Christmas between my dad's five siblings. Then we built our cabin/house. Our tradition starts a week before when all the cousins go and bake cookies at my aunt Carrie's house. Since her husband is a chef we have all the fun nozzles and cutters you can possibly imagine for our cookies. It gets to be a mess since I'm the oldest and the age ranges all the way down to one.
The fun begins typically on December 23rd. My mom, dad, sister and I are usually at the cabin first, possibly days before others so we can clean and get ready. Then the night before Christmas Eve, everybody arrives. We have carloads full of food, presents, and winter gear. The first night we're all excited and just get settled into the house. The little kids begin to run around and cause raucous. The uncles go out on the lake and begin making the hockey rink, which will soon be occupied by all the little ones. The kitchen is already in motion with all the aunts trying to get ahead on the big meals for the next day. Our Christmas tree (which is 12 feet tall), is sparkling the room with Christmas music playing as well. The uncle's and I stay up late playing cards, sneaking cookies, and giving eachother a hard time. It's funny to think this is only the first night of our celebration.
The next morning, little kids come and wake everybody up in spite of their excitement. The ladies and my uncle (the one who is a chef), are already making breakfast, starting lunch, and preparing dinner. The uncle's are gearing everybody up to go out on the lake to play some hockey. Grandma and I are in the living room making jokes and laughing hystericall, as we always do when we're together. The day goes on with more food, games, and laughter. When nighttime comes around we have our big Christmas Eve meal. Then we do the adult gift exchange, which gets to be hilarious. We then give all the grandkids their gifts. The greatest tradition we have is our uncle Tom dress up as Santa and comes and brings the presents. The kids believe this because we are "further up North". He comes barging into the house with the "Ho, Ho, Ho!" and his sack full of all the kids presents. He then distributes them and disappears outside. The kids are awestruck every year. We then unwind the night with playing with some new gifts and snacking on the last bit of cookies. We go to bed, only to wake up to Christmas morning. We usually have crepes, our great-grandma's specialty, and everyone packs up and leaves only to go to another Christmas party. This tradition is my absolute favorite because it's unique. We all have fun and it's something we will never forget. Only 18 more days!