I would like to take this post to give a shoutout to moms. Moms are great. They are all different, but they are the kind of people that give me hope in humanity. They have an extremely high capacity for empathy, and I am more grateful for that everyday. I have many interactions with moms (most notably my mom and my friends’ moms), and I had a great one this past weekend.
Last Friday I drove down to San Antonio to attend the finals of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo with my best friend from England, Chennya, and her boyfriend, Jarrod (both of whom I work with at summer camp). We three stayed with Jarrod’s mom who lives outside of San Antonio in a little southern town called Gonzalez. It was the most stereotypical small southern town I’ve ever spent a chunk of time in, and Jarrod’s mom Paige made my stay significantly better. Since Chennya and Jarrod are both good friends of mine, I am often their third wheel as I was this weekend, and Paige made this weekend’s third wheeling so much more fun. When we were at the rodeo, I had a buddy who I could walk next to while Chennya and Jarrod held hands behind us. She gave me someone to talk to when they were sleeping on each other during the rodeo events. And finally, she gave me a home and mom for the weekend since I don’t get to see mine all that often.
To conclude this post I’m going to share two specific experiences Paige and I shared that inspired me to write this post thanking moms. I’m both an early riser and a chronic non-sleeper when I’m not in my own bed, so when I woke up at 6:58am Saturday morning, I was worried I would have to find some way to entertain myself for three hours before Chennya and Jarrod would most probably wake up. At about 7:30 I decided I was thirsty and wandered into the kitchen where Paige was already going about her day. She offered me coffee and I gratefully accepted while sitting down at the kitchen island. Paige and I struck up an easy conversation even though we’d only met the night before, and talked about anything and everything until Chennya and Jarrod wandered into the kitchen just after 9:00. I hadn’t even realized how much time went by, but Paige was so easy to talk to and she gave the kind of advice on my problems only a mom could give. We did this again the next morning, and after those two mornings I felt as though all my problems had been solved, and I was free to go about my life.
The second major mom thing Paige did throughout the weekend was make sure all three of us college kids were well-fed. She paid for our large Italian dinner on Friday night, made gourmet breakfasts complete with coffee and three kinds of juice Saturday and Sunday morning, and labored all day Friday so we could have homemade cheesecake as a midnight snack after the rodeo. She sent all of three of us home with bags full of leftover food since she’s on a strict diet, so I’m bound to be well-fed until that food runs out sometime next month.
I’m so grateful for Paige’s hospitality this weekend, and for moms everywhere who I know would do the very same thing. Shoutout and thank you to moms everywhere - you are amazing!
Last Friday I drove down to San Antonio to attend the finals of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo with my best friend from England, Chennya, and her boyfriend, Jarrod (both of whom I work with at summer camp). We three stayed with Jarrod’s mom who lives outside of San Antonio in a little southern town called Gonzalez. It was the most stereotypical small southern town I’ve ever spent a chunk of time in, and Jarrod’s mom Paige made my stay significantly better. Since Chennya and Jarrod are both good friends of mine, I am often their third wheel as I was this weekend, and Paige made this weekend’s third wheeling so much more fun. When we were at the rodeo, I had a buddy who I could walk next to while Chennya and Jarrod held hands behind us. She gave me someone to talk to when they were sleeping on each other during the rodeo events. And finally, she gave me a home and mom for the weekend since I don’t get to see mine all that often.
To conclude this post I’m going to share two specific experiences Paige and I shared that inspired me to write this post thanking moms. I’m both an early riser and a chronic non-sleeper when I’m not in my own bed, so when I woke up at 6:58am Saturday morning, I was worried I would have to find some way to entertain myself for three hours before Chennya and Jarrod would most probably wake up. At about 7:30 I decided I was thirsty and wandered into the kitchen where Paige was already going about her day. She offered me coffee and I gratefully accepted while sitting down at the kitchen island. Paige and I struck up an easy conversation even though we’d only met the night before, and talked about anything and everything until Chennya and Jarrod wandered into the kitchen just after 9:00. I hadn’t even realized how much time went by, but Paige was so easy to talk to and she gave the kind of advice on my problems only a mom could give. We did this again the next morning, and after those two mornings I felt as though all my problems had been solved, and I was free to go about my life.
The second major mom thing Paige did throughout the weekend was make sure all three of us college kids were well-fed. She paid for our large Italian dinner on Friday night, made gourmet breakfasts complete with coffee and three kinds of juice Saturday and Sunday morning, and labored all day Friday so we could have homemade cheesecake as a midnight snack after the rodeo. She sent all of three of us home with bags full of leftover food since she’s on a strict diet, so I’m bound to be well-fed until that food runs out sometime next month.
I’m so grateful for Paige’s hospitality this weekend, and for moms everywhere who I know would do the very same thing. Shoutout and thank you to moms everywhere - you are amazing!
Enjoy this picture of Chennya, my Mom, and I!
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