A Mother’s Love
by Amanda Vergara
Upon first glance, it is easy to notice the similarities between my mother and me. People with whom I am barely acquainted have instantly recognized that I am my mother’s daughter; the same brown almond-shaped eyes, high cheekbones, and thick, unruly waves of hair are dead giveaways that we are indeed related – regardless of whether I like it or not. Although I physically stand a good few inches taller, her effortless confidence, grace, and bullheaded determination make her the bigger person, the rock upon which our family was built.
I have no recollections of my father. My mother divorced him in 1997, the year I turned three, and ever since he has been physically and financially absent from our lives. To afford making her dream of enrolling my younger sister and me in private Catholic schools a reality, my mother has worked two jobs for as long as I can remember. Although we never had much money, I never felt “poor”; her constant late nights at the office and the awkwardness of our secondhand clothing were trivial in comparison to the richness of her selfless love for us. My mother ensured that my sister and I would have the childhood she never had by providing a means to our dreams, despite their childish and capricious nature, and for years, we dabbled in piano, figure skating, basketball, karate, painting, horseback riding, theater, and singing. She made our happiness her priority and supported me in all of my endeavors, mollifying and healing any self-doubt or heartbreak I encountered along the way; however, she did not coddle us or discourage us from becoming independent adolescents.
Through her example, I have become the proactive, hardworking person that I am today. Though we have had our differences, I hope to encompass the same boundless love and compassion of my mother and extend it to the world as she has done for me and countless others. Her tenacity and perseverance through the hardships of single parenting amazes me, and someday I will carry her same spirit with me and manifest it as clearly as the larger than life hair on my head.