In the early 90s, while I was rocking brown lipstick (Revlon’s Cocoa Bean anyone?), crushed velvet dresses, green and black french manicures, and soothers strung around my neck as an ill advised fashion statement, I started high school. My mom, who at that time was a blonde (no word of a lie! It was the 90s, we all made mistakes) came into the school to speak to someone – I didn’t even know she had been there. But I’ll always remember the sheer number of teachers and other students who saw her that day and knew that she was my mom. There’s no mistaking it, apparently.
We also have the same laugh, and the same way of holding ourselves when we talk. Those moments when I can hear my mother when I speak remind me that we are inextricably intertwined. There are other ways we are similar, as well, beyond our appearance – stubborn, ambitious and smart, my mom’s dreams and goals which she realized helped me to see I could realize my own as well. I’ve talked about her incredible strength as a single mother, and how much I’ve drawn on that in my own experiences. Some of these are traits she passed on, others are things I learned nearly by osmosis – this thing that happens when you live so closely to someone else for so many years. We become alike, we mirror and reflect each other.
PROMPT: In what ways are you like your mother? Do you share physical traits, or personality features? Do you embrace all the ways you are the same? What does it mean for you, to be like your mom?
(Want to make sure you see the whole series of Mother’s Day prompts? Use this link to view them all!)
Stephanie Ostermann
I’m a communicator. That’s a PC way of saying I like to talk, but I also spend a lot of my time listening, and over the years, I’ve developed a sense for subtext – how one or two words can change your entire message, what people are really trying to say and how to weave the varied layers of your story into one cohesive brand message that your clients fall in love with.
When I'm not acting as editor in chief for Vivid & Brave, you can find me geeking out over words here.
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