When I was young, I didn't have a strong concept of my mother and father as people. They were just My Parents, whom I loved. It didn't occur to me to wonder about their pasts, about whether or not they were happy, or about what they wanted out of their futures. I also didn't appreciate how lucky I was to have good parents, because I didn't know what not having that looked like. That appreciation and knowledge came later. Eventually, I learned that parents are imperfect, and not all families are idyllic. Not everyone has good parents, and not all siblings develop strong bonds.

We celebrated my mother's birthday in January. My mother is one of the biggest blessings in my life- calling her a good parent doesn't do her justice. She's my superhero. I could never adequately express how much I love and admire her, nor could I imagine a mother working harder. To help support our family, she returned to work as a veterinary receptionist after nearly two decades of being a stay-at-home mom. For those two decades, she was fully committed to my brother and me. She woke us up for school in the mornings, packed our lunches, drove us to school and picked us up afterwards. She labored every day to keep our home clean, to cook our meals, to care for us when we were sick. Love and magic went into all of our holidays. She continues to work hard, maintaining a balance between taking care of our family and her career. A lot of mothers sacrifice so much in order to run their household and nurture their children, and I couldn't respect these women more.




When we're little, we can't fully value our parents, because we don't have anything to compare them to. As we grow older, we begin to know them better and see them as human beings. And one day, we look back and classify them as one of two kinds of people: someone we don't want to be, or someone we do. Those of us who are able to look back and realize we had the latter kind of parent are truly lucky. Without my mother's influence, I believe I would be a different person than I am today. Through her I've learned what it looks like to work hard, to sacrifice for and take care of someone else... and to soulfully appreciate spaghetti! If you have people in your life who really love you, take time to appreciate them. Not everyone has that. This new year, I hope you embrace positivity, be kind, and treasure your super heroes as much as my mom treasures Italian food.