The first time I saw the P&G Thank You Mom commercials, I teared up a little. Being a mom is sometimes thankless and the commercials do such a great job of celebrating the things that moms do. Even when we get older, we often take our mothers for granted. That's why I was so moved to get a sneak peak at Maria Shriver's video called "The Gift." In it, she talks about the gifts her mom, Eunice Kennedy Shriver (JFK's sister), gave her.
Shriver says that the gift her mother gave her was the gift of possibility. I can really relate to that. My mother did the same thing for me. She came over to the United States as a young 20-something woman who didn't speak the language. In her country moving "up the ladder" would have been hard if not impossible. But here, thanks to her hard work, I was able to get an education and live a great life. In her own way, she also gave me the gift of possibility. So when Maria Shriver says that her mother made her feel like, "I could do anything I wanted to do. She made me feel what it's like for somebody to be your champion. It wasn't a matter of, 'Can I?' or, 'Should I?' It was just, 'You can, you must, you will!' " I think it's something that will move a lot of Latinas. I know it really touched me.
Another cool thing about Maria Shriver's mom is that she started the Special Olympics, which encourages and empowers people with intellectual disabilities, promoting acceptance for everyone. What's amazing about that is that when people learn to accept one kind of person (like people with intellectual disabilities) it makes it more likely that they will accept all kinds of people, including minorities like Latinos. It's like that old saying about being the change you want to see in the world. One small action, like re-posting this video about the gifts Maria Shriver's mother gave her, can send ripples of positive energy out into the world.
Embedded content: http://youtu.be/YjYuj4BvIsc
And what's even better, for every share of the video from P&G's Thank you, Mom Facebook page (www.facebook.com/thankyoumom), P&G will donate $1 to support Special Olympics programs and services, up to $50,000!
Image via YouTube
