Other than telling me that "you can't go to a coed high school,"
I can't remember another time when my mother said, "you can't."
She always told me "try it" and "whatever you put your mind to,
you can do." I think the closest she ever got was "no, you
cannot fly in that open cockpit biplane...remember what
happened last time."
She instilled in me the confidence to live in Mexico by myself
for a year, to travel all over the world, to go to medical school,
to be my own person and never let anyone tell me I couldn't,
wouldn't or shouldn't. The last she felt confident in doing
because, as I've written before, my mother instilled in me
a sense of personal responsibility for my actions.
I love you, Mom. Thank you for shaping me into the woman
I've become.
Happy Birthday!
