Mom and I at a UT football game
My mom is the strongest person I've ever met. She just has such a comforting grace about her. In the tough times of life I take my problems to her. It takes only one word for her to know what kind of mood I'm in. She can read me like a book. Though she's not my biological mother, she might as well have been. We act the same, have the same mannerisms, and even kind of look the same. As my grandma says, "well she (me) acts just like you, Paulette (mom)." I think that should be taken as a compliment. I wish I did act like my mom. She encourages me to take all of my troubles to God. She is the best cook; I wish I could recreate her recipes. She can turn any living situation into home. She knows when to give me a reality check, and when to let me just cry. Watching my mom cry as she left me in Syracuse is one of the hardest things I've been through. She told me she knew I was ready and that was the only reason she could get in the car and drive away. I still don't feel ready, but her confidence in me is what gives me the confidence to press on this year. Even though she has true horrors in her past, my mom has such grace and composure. I only wish that I could mimic that and be as Godly of a woman as she is. Mom, I love you.
