Tami S

My mom and I had it rough through my teenage years. It was her own fault. She did good of a job raising me. My mom wanted me to be everything she didn’t think she was: strong, opinionated, successful, and independent. She succeeded and because of this, she had a hard time keeping me in check. It was tough love, and when I was seventeen, I branched out on my own seeking the independence she so wanted for me. I made poor decisions and got into a lot of mischief. But she never gave up on me. She was always there calling on Sunday, bailing me out of financial difficulties; she nurtured me from afar the best she could. One day, I grew up. I started to get my life figured out. I was a single mom in the military and was lucky enough to get stationed 4 hours from the home I grew up in. My mom visited every time she could. I love her, but she drove me crazy with the clucking about the mountainous piles of laundry and the dishes in the sink. (Exactly as a good mom should.) And when I met and married the wrong man, she told me once what she thought (only when I asked) and never talked badly about him again. Even now that we’re divorced, she won’t say a nasty thing about the father of my other two children. During my divorce, I was pregnant, about to be jobless, and moving back to the States from another country. My mom never thought twice about offering her home to us during our transition. She took extensive vacation time to help with the baby so I could recover from my cesarean, as well as taking time off so I could go to court and fight for the custody of my oldest child. I’ve since then leased a house, but haven’t moved in yet. I think she knows that I’m scared to have my babies on my own. And she hasn’t pushed me to move out. My mom is the best mom in Wichita because she consistantly pushes me to be the best I can be with a gentle but steady pressure and is always there to pick me up when I fall. My mom is stronger than she thinks. She is the person I hope I can be for my kids.