Shaping Lives

It's a running gag in the family that I have no lack for confidence. Even though much of my personality traits come from Dad, I think that it has been Mom that has helped me develop my "confident" persona. I remember an experience I had when I was 5 years old. I had afternoon kindergarten and Mom gave me a new shirt that morning when I was getting ready to go to school. She told me "that all the girls would think I was cute" while wearing this shirt at school. Before going to school I was riding my 3 wheeled "power wheel" around the sidewalks in the front yard when two girls in my class walked by and waved at me. I remember going to class that day and being a completley different person.

In Junior High I made a decision to not hang out with a group of guys because they were starting to date and get into things that I was probably too young to think about. I felt like I had made a right decision even though the group of guys were popular. I hadn't announced this decision to anyone and wanted to know if I was just overreacting. Recently after this I was driving with Mom to go pick up pizza for dinner and she told me that she thought I was right on track to not spend as much time with that group of friends. Though my teenage reaction to this conversation probably didn't display how appreciative I was for what she had said, it certainly helped me feel like my parents were very much involved in my life.

As I got older Mom didn't need to tell me that girls would think I would look cute in certain shirts or spend as much time acknowledging my decisions but she still did. If anything she probably had to reel in my "confident" persona. Happy Birthday Mom! I hope you know that these and other small and simple comments and discussions have shaped and directed my life.