“Every other day I crossed the line, I didn’t mean to be so bad,

I never thought you would become the friend I never had.”

– Spice Girls, “Mama”

It’s funny how some things in life end up coming full circle. As a child, you adore your parents for being adult-sized playmates. As a preteen/teen, sometimes you begin to resent them for attempting to stop you from making the same mistakes that they made when they were your age. And as an adult, you begin to identify with them more and see them in a whole new light.

This is exactly what has happened with me and the two most important women in my life: my mother and my grandmother. I really put them through the wringer as a teenager with my “stank” attitude and moody disposition; something I feel really terrible about now that I am in my twenties although it is very common with teenage girls. Now I have the most loving, respecting and stable relationship with them (although my mother and I still clash at times). We are friends. And that is something that I never thought would happen. As a matter of fact, my seventeen year old self would have laughed in your face if you would have predicted this outcome. But it really is true; I see my mother and my grandmother as two of my best friends. I have other friends that are my age, of course. But my mom and grandma are the friends who I will always have and who I can trust to never betray me or lead me in the wrong direction. It’s rare to find that in a person. So I feel lucky to have two beautiful women who love me and would do anything to keep me happy. Now that I am old enough to look back on all the lectures I got from them as a child/teen and see the love behind it instead of the criticism, I feel obligated to reciprocate that love and also pay it forward to my own children (whenever I have some). I’ve learned so much about life from my mom and grandma. I would not be the person that I am today without the two of them. Happy Mother’s Day.