come to know my mom not only as a mother but as a person, and not being far off in age from hers when she had me, her first child, I can’ t help but be overcome with emotions and regret with how I treated her. I was ungrateful and blinded by the naivety of being a kid who thought the world owed something to me. In every memory of my childhood, I feel remorse for how I treated her and the disappointment I felt. All I remember now are her tired eyes after working all night, the notes she would leave in every plastic Walmart bagged lunch, and her excitement when she could afford to take us to the store to pick something that we liked, despite having wants of her own. My mother gave up friendships, relationships, and her youth to put everything into caring for us;
10 TEMPO MAGAZINE— SPRING 2025