There are so many things about my life and myself that I have to thank my mom for. I'm sure we all do. Today, as I think about Mother's Day coming up, I'm thankful for her strength and her support, which continues even through today as she's helping me raise my little guy, Sebastian, watching him while my husband and I are at work. I could not ask for a better, more loving caregiver.
But I realized that what I am most thankful to my mom for is for having the courage to rip me away from everything I knew when I was just 7 years old, tearing me away from friends, family, my awesome abuelos, my school, my life, just so we could come to a new place to–as she told me–"have a better life." Sound strange right? It did to me too when I was 7 and completely happy with my kid life. But let me explain.
Read more ¿Qué más?: Gracias Mamá: You will always be mami to me
One of the most important decisions of our lives, which my mami made for us when I was just 7, a few years after my father's death, was when she decided to leave everything we both knew in Colombia and embark on a huge adventure that would bring us to the United States–despite the fact that we had no visa and no papers.
For that I'll be forever grateful because even though at the time I cried and protested, and cried some more–even while crossing the frontera, even while waiting for weeks for my mom in the coyote family's house, and even though the coyote family let me have all the Estados Unidos ice cream that my heart desired those few days I was without her–the truth is that decision did change my life forever, but allowed me to grow up with a loving stepdad, in a new country that allowed me infinite opportunities.
My mom–my fearless mom (because that's one word I think will always make me think of my mom: FEARLESS)–totally undid our lives so that she could be assured it would be a better one in the future. I honestly don't have the words to thank my mom for her ferocity, for always thinking of me first, for living without fear, even after her husband died and sacrificing everything to give me a chance at a better life in a new place–and in the process making me fearless as well (although I know I'll never, EVER have the gall that my mami does). Gracias, my fearless mami, for everything. ¡Te quiero mucho!
Image via Yuliana Gómez
