Here's to strong women

I was raised by a strong woman.

As far back as I can remember, my mom has always been an icon. My earliest memories of her relate to her social life while still being a mom. She had a bestie that she used to hangout with often and drink cocktails and smoke cigarettes. I remember thinking my mom was so fricken cool. She was super trendy back then, wearing low rise jeans and funky colours. She's always loved colours.

Growing up, I didn't really appreciate my mom. I fought with her often and didn't hug her enough. I didn't help out around the house nearly as much as I should. There was always an excuse coming out of my mouth. Whether it was homework, going out with friends, or simply "didn't feel like it", I always was ready to say no to whatever she asked of me. And yet, she continued to love me, protect me, and keep me safe.

I will never forget the first two years of us living in Canada and how much that woman pushed for our family. Working 3 jobs is hard enough on its own, but even harder when you work them back to back to back with 4 hours of sleep in between and the rest of the family still relying on her to be a mom too. I will never be able to thank her enough. She didn't stop there. Once things settled down and we were financially stable enough for both her and my dad to work less, my mom went back to school and you guessed it... she was doing all that while still having a full time job and was a mom to teenagers. She completed not one, not two, but three diplomas in Canada in the past 15 years of us having lived here. These are also on top of the degrees she already had in Romania. My mom has training as a lawyer and teacher and that makes for five total degrees. She also speaks 5 languages - two fluently, and 3 conversationally. My mom is fricken badass.

She had a dream for all of us to live a better life in Canada. We weren't persecuted in any way in Romania or lived a shitty life but I would never be able to be the person I am today if it weren't for living in Canada and my mom made sure I got that. She made sure to push me to go to school, to make connections, to never fight with my sisters and have their backs instead. My mom made sure that I wouldn't live a life that was less than. Was it hard? God, I can't even begin to tell you how much that woman has dealt with, how many tears have been cried and how many of those were behind closed doors. I can't begin to tell you how much she picked up the slack when one of us 'didn't feel like it'.

When I look back at everything she gave up in Romania just to give me and my sisters a good life, I swear I get chills. I hate thinking about the struggle that she went through for us. I hate knowing that she ever experienced pain. I hate knowing that she broke her back working a stupid amount of jobs just to ensure that my sisters and I didn't lack anything.

That's not to mean she did it alone because she did have my dad at her side throughout and this was a post I intended to publish on international women's day but got too emotional as I was writing. My dad is just as badass but this one is about women ... sorry dad.

Now I know this story doesn't apply to everyone and perhaps your mom sucks, but if your mom is awesome and she deserves the whole world and then some, go give her a hug right now cause damn, that woman deserves it. All the same, if your mom isn't the strong woman figure in your life, go to your best friend, your grandma, your aunt, your cousin, whoever that woman might be that you look up to.

We all deserve a little more love sometimes and this is your reminder to give some out to the special strong women in your life.