I am not going to lie I had a slight panic attack when I walked into Tesco the other day and saw a massive display of Mother’s Day cards. I thought Mother’s Day was in May and I hadn’t sent a thing to my mom! I asked around in panic, only to find out that Ireland and the U.S. apparently have different Mother’s Days; theirs is today March 11th and ours is May 13th. With that being said, it seemed only fitting to dedicate this blog to the phenomenal women who inspired me along the way.
The first lady I am going to talk about is my grandmother, my Mom’s mom who passed away a few years ago, which was the first time I ever experienced true heartbreak. See my grandma, I called her “grams” was my idol. Grams was a woman way ahead of her time, she was top of her class at Cornell Medical School and went on to become a doctor. After becoming a doctor, her and my grandpa started a farm, known as Kesicke Farm, the farm I grew up on. I would get off the bus from school at my grandma’s house and anxiously run into the house, primarily because she always had hershey kisses waiting, but also because I adored my grandmother. Even from a young age, I could sit for hours and listen to my grandma tell me stories of her life and listen to her pass on her wisdom to me. Grams was an hilarious, an outstanding cook, loved to watch birds, and loved doing puzzles (while of course smoking cigarettes). She taught me the true meaning of hard work, as she had me and my siblings working the corn stand at the farm every summer. She taught us how to properly count back change and how to run the stand. I considered grams to be one of my best friends and I just loved spending time with her.
The one thing my grandmother made me promise her, was that I would travel the world. She had a giant map of the world, and she pinned every place she had been to, which was a lot. I asked her to tell me stories of the all the places she visited and I was so intrigued. She made me promise that I would “take the time to travel the world, there is just so much out there to see.” That is when I immediately had this desire to travel the world and be like my grandma. I’d like to thing I have made her proud, having traveled to 12 countries so far and by the end of this summer I could be up to 25 countries. I could write a novel about how my grams has impacted my life, but most importantly my grandmother taught me to live every moment like it’s your last, and something she lived by everyday of her life. There wasn’t one single day, even after she suffered a stroke, that I didn’t see my grandmother smile or crack a joke. She would always tell me, “life’s way too short, don’t take it too seriously!” I’ll never forget when my grandpa passed away she was smoking a cigarette at his burial, saying “well I’m having one last cigarette with him!” She was a true character and a true original who lived in every moment. When she passed away, it shook our entire family. It felt like the glue that held us all together suddenly was gone. I was devastated and it felt like my best friend was taken from me. No more stories, no more hershey kisses, no more jokes. This was also the first time I have ever and to this day have ever seen my mother cry. But as my grams would’ve wanted-we continued in life smiling, carrying on her memories and lessons she taught us.
If you can imagine the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree, as my Mother inherited a lot of my grandmothers qualities. If you know me, you know I am very close with my Dad (love you pops!), but I don’t always get to share the way I feel about my mom and how she has impacted my life. My Mom is absolutely amazing and god I hope some day I can be half the woman she is. You’ve never seen anyone multi task, until you have seen my mom. I mean this woman can have 5 separate things done within 15 minutes, its absolutely mind-blowing. My mom is also a teacher, and when I watch her teach I literally tear up every single time. She just has this way with kids, and inspires them to be the best versions of themselves. When I started preschool, I wouldn’t let go of my mother, crying every single day because I didn’t want to leave her side. Maybe it’s because deep down I knew how incredible she was.
My mom is about 5 foot 2 inches, but boy is she feisty. Anytime kids would make fun of me in school, my mom always gave me the best comebacks to say to them. She taught me to always stand up for myself, do the right thing, but most importantly to stand up for what you believe in. She would always say to me, “you know, I’ve had to be a fighter all my life, being this short.” When I started to really struggle with my body image issues, my mom was by my side through it all (and still is) and I can not thank her enough for that. I vividly remember moments where I would cry on my mom’s shoulder asking her why I was so ugly. My mom would always be there to comfort me. However, the thing I love most about my mom is she never let me sulk and have my own pity party for too long. After a few times of being upset about my physical appearance, she would say “alright enough this doesn’t define you, you have to keep living your life.” She taught me that life doesn’t stop just because I don’t like the way I look and I can’t not live my life because of my skin or my weight. I will forever be thankful for that, as my mom has taught me true strength and just because life isn’t going your way is no excuse to not be a good person and live a great life. I think that is something I will always carry with me. My mom has been through so much in her life, and her strength inspires me everyday. I aspire to be like her someday and show my kids the same amount of love, support, and strength she has shown me and my 4 siblings. She is my biggest supporter in sports and life, but she also reminds when it’s time to not feel sorry for myself. Thank you mom for showing me the true meaning of love and life, and what it means to always be true to yourself. So this a cheers to some of the amazing women who have impacted my life, I love you both always.
xo
Mak
(Don’t mind my horrid bowl cut-thanks mom!)
