Forgiveness

     

  My birthday is in thirty something days, woohooo!!  Every time one of those rolls around I am forced to think about my life and make sure it's on the right track. As I was thinking of everything that I've done in the past ALMOST 28 years of my life, I couldn't help but remember my childhood. There's a specific point in those wee years that always makes me super-dee-duperly confused because on one hand I get sad about it and on the other it makes me proud of my family and myself. But more importantly, it makes me realize the importance of attitude,love and family. So here it is, I'm going to tell you something that most people don't know about me. When I lived in Mexico and was the very mature age of 6, I had to get a job bagging groceries at the local supermarket so my mom and I could make ends meet. There I said it, I had a job when I was 6! See weird, I'm super proud to say that I was a total working machine at that young age. However, in the same token if I think about it for what it REALLY was and put my daughter in place of me... waterworks!!! I get so sad to think that my mom had to tell me, "Mija, it's time to get a job. You can't watch the smurfs when you get home from school anymore. It's time to grow up." (Granted this is not at all what she said, she didn't even speak English then but that's what I'm making up for the sake of the story. Okay? Okay!)

     Whenever I think back about this time in my life, I seriously don't ever remember any sadness from being poor or bleakness from HAVING to have a job at 6 years of age. In place of any negative feeling, there is a sense of pride and joy that I was able to do all those things and triumph in the end. I would NEVER be the person I am today if it had not been for all of the crummy circumstances in my life. I probably would not be as understanding and resilient as I find myself now. So I am thankful for all of those opportunities that made me a stronger person. And the more and more I think about why it was almost "fun" for me to have a job so young, I realize that it was my mothers AMAZING attitude that helped me not be sad as a child. She has an amazing quality about her that makes her a fighter no matter what life throws her way. At that time she probably had such a  heavy-heart to have to make her little girl go to work. She didn't let on to me that we were in dire need. For me it was as though we had been rich all along. It wasn't until I did have that I understood how much we didn't for a long time.

       My mother had a huge impact on me as a young girl, and then in my teenage years she made some poor choices in her life that have affected me in a lot of ways. For a very long time, I felt so resentful towards her for making me feel like she did. And then God told me to knock it off. When I grasped that my mother is JUST a human being that is trying to make it here on earth as much as the next gal, I knew I could not continue to put her on a pedestal that made her unable to make any mistakes. I had a hard time not seeing my mother as perfect because my whole childhood was happy because of her. She protected me from so much ,gave up and sacrificed even more than I can imagine for my well being. She made it so even in the shittiest of circumstances, I was able to live a loving and some what "normal" childhood (pardon the French, I couldn't find a better word!) She helped me believe in myself. She taught me the power of working hard and being a good, kind person. She taught me that you have to be likable  and funny and to not rely on looks to get you places.  She helped me realize that I really WASN'T the center of the universe like I once had believed, go figure! So you can imagine how difficult it was for me to understand that she's only a human being that has the right to her own mistakes in life ( I saw her more like a cross between Phoenix and Storm, the perfect Super-heroine!)

 There is so much of my mother in me that I am extremely proud to say came from her. Her attitude and love made my childhood one that I remember being filled with joy and happiness. It didn't matter that I had to work at such a young age, because I had my mom to come home to and she was the best mom she could have been to me. In spite of the "bad" choices she's made in her life, God has commanded me to honor my father and mother, He doesn't say, "honor them ONLY if they don't do anything wrong...."  So this is me forgiving my mother of anything she ever did that hurt me in any way. I understand that you are not a super-heroine after all mommy, and that's perfectly okay because you are my MOTHER, and in so many ways that is way cooler!

 Are you holding on to something you should let go of today? Is there someone in your life you're building up to be a superhero rather than a real person that has the right to their own mistakes?  I encourage you to think and pray about it and let it go. Let God be the judge not you. There is an indescribable peace that comes along when we let go and just love people regardless of what they do. I hope you all are having beautiful days! 

Stay blessed and stay saucy! 

Thank you mamacita hermosa.