Started from Ontario...
A lot of people have great, yet cheesey, stories about them and their mothers. Please be warned this is one of them.
My mother and stepfather relocated from Ontario two years ago to move up to Mackenzie for work. I was living in Ottawa at the time, attending the University of Ottawa. I came back and spent a summer in Mackenzie, and was pleasantly surprised at how nice everyone was here, and decided to move to Prince George and stay, attending UNBC. Of course this is not the whole story. Everyone thinks that there is a time where you will eventually have to spread your wings and be away from their family, including their mother. I thought that them moving was a signal of that time for me, but you don't realize how much you need her until she is 4000km away. I have no regrets about moving here, and get to see my family almost once a month.
Every family has their fights and differences, but my mother and I's relationship is built on mutual trust. We value eachother's ideas, input and although we may not agree with one another, we tend to just accept it. I don't have many friends up in Mackenzie, so, so it's pretty great that my Mom and Step dad are some my best friends.
Life hasn't always been easy for us, but my mom never made that apparent. My mother and father split up when I was in grade 6, which left my mom without a place to stay and in a lot of debt (thanks to my father). It was like she was sheathed in armour, as nothing seemed to bother her- things seemed to be more normal than they ever had been. We moved around a lot, and she had three jobs to support my brother and I. We definitely took her for granted, as it is only now that I see how much she sacrificed to put a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and also keep us in organized sports. I will never forget my 12th birthday. We were in a small apartment, where her and I had to share a room, but she still made a point of letting me have a birthday party. We crammed twelve of my friends into that apartment, where we ate, and played and did crafts (in lieu of goody bags). I can't imagine the amount of stress she was under, because she never let it show. It was always about us and making sure that we were safe, and happy, and that is what a true definition of a mother is.
I am so proud of my mom for becoming the success she is today. Less than a decade ago, retail therapy meant buying a $5 shirt or real chicken breast rather than chicken fingers. Whereas now she has disposable income to buy the things she wants, deserves and that makes her happy. But again, she hasn't gotten out of the mindset that she can reward herself, so this opportunity isn't realised. But, she can pay for things like cable, which we never had (which I can't afford as a student). So when I go home, we indulge in our TLC and wine and I sit in awe of what an amazing mother I have, and how she as made me the strong woman I am today.
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