May 30, 2019

5 Things Since My Mom Died

It is crazy to realize that it has been 9 years since my mom died suddenly. I talked more about the realities of losing a parent when you’re a teenager in this post, but I thought for this year I would talk about some aspects of who I am now that my mom wouldn’t know about.

What got me thinking about this was the Jonas Brothers released a parody of their song the “Year 3000” called “Year 2019” and it was hilarious for starters! However, it got me thinking about how much life has changed in the past decade. In particular, things that I love, enjoy, find funny, or have done that my mom wasn’t alive for and wouldn’t know about (we are disregarding for the purpose of this post, any potential that people who have passed on can watch over us, although I do believe that). It’s crazy to see how much things really change in 9 years, and it was really interesting to think about all the stuff in my life that wasn’t apart of it when I was a freshman in high school. So, here are 5 things my mom wouldn’t know about me or my world I live in now.

1.) How to Train Your Dragon Series:

Y’all, this movie franchise is my favorite! I saw the second movie 8 times in theaters and the third one 5 times! I adore the animation, the music composition, and most importantly the way the story is told. Plus each movie’s theme aligns with aspects of my own coming of age journey. Anyone who knows me knows that this is my all time favorite movie, so it is interesting to think about how the series hadn’t even begun when my mom passed away.

2.) Landscape Architecture:

As y’all know, I just graduated with a degree in landscape architecture, and will begin working for an amazing firm in June. Landscape Architecture and Texas A&M University have provided me with so many amazing life experiences, such as doing research in Costa Rica, living in Germany, speaking with Congress in Washington D.C., and interning at three great firms. I love what I do, and I’d like to think I am pretty decent at it as well for a recent graduate. When my mom passed away I was only 14 and had my heart set on being a sequential artist. In all fairness, I did pursue that career at Minneapolis College of Art and Design for a solid semester before transferring, but my mom probably wouldn’t even know what landscape architecture is. Although, I am 100% sure she would have really liked the field and hopefully been proud of my success within it.

3.) World Travel:

As y’all may have noticed recently, I’ve done a lot of traveling in the past year. Ten countries to be exact. When my mom passed away, I hadn’t hardly even been out of the state of Texas. Now I’ve lived in Minnesota, Germany, and spent time in a million other places. Heck, I use Airbnb enough they gave me discount coupons! I think it would be awfully fun to tell her about all the crazy, fun, culturally enriching adventures I’ve been on.

4.) Media:

It is crazy to me to think about how Instagram, snapchat, etc. weren’t even around when she passed away. Now people make money off of those apps. Also, Game of Thrones had not even begun and it’s the biggest show of the century! Same goes for Pretty Little Liars and many more big shows! Katy Perry was still an upcoming artist, and now she’s a bit of a has been. It just interesting to see how much the media has evolved and what has been popular in the last 9 years since she passed away.

5.) Cherry Blossom 56 Blog:

Finally, my blog wasn’t even around! I started this as a creative outlet sophomore year of high school (let me do you a big favor and suggest you don’t go back that much and look at those posts). Now it’s not only a fun, creative expression, but I actually make money off it! I would like to think my mom would have enjoyed reading my blog, and been subscribed to my email list.

Those are just the five things that really stood out in particular for me of things that have been impactful in my life over the last 9 years since I said goodbye to my mom. I don’t talk about her much because I often think I have no claim to miss her because I was only 14 when she passed, but I hope she’d have been interested in who I have become as a person as well as who I continue to grow into.