Birthday Happiness with a Twinge of Sadness

Yesterday my sister turned 33. Since I've been 32 for the past 6 weeks we are no longer "twins." :) Growing up those weeks between our birthday's were especially fun if someone asked us our age. Just to see their reaction when we told them that we were JUST sisters, not twins, always amused us.

Tomorrow is my Mom's birthday, she would have been 64. It's been 11 yrs since her death and it's hard to imagine her at that age. So I thought I would dedicate this entry to the two women in my life who I appreciate and love more than words can explain. Not to mention the fact that this has also been an exciting week for all of us.

My mom was beautiful, intelligent, educated, had lived in different countries and more. I think she was excited to be here, in the US, raising us in a great country that didn't place any limitations on what one could do with their life. I was raised thinking I could save the world if I wanted to... or at the very least get a great education and a wonderful job. That is what was preached in our house. However, growing up with a mom who had an accent didn't allow for me to really TRULY believe that. I remember many errands where I would have to translate for my mom because the cashier or salesperson claimed to not understand her. I say "claimed" because even as a kid I knew that the minute some people heard her accent, in that split-second, she would be treated differently.

My sister has all of the same qualities of my mom without the language limitations that could be so frustrating. My sister worked on Obama's campaign and I remember my cousin, Claire, once told her she sounded like an Amway rep she was so excited and trying to "sell" Obama to the rest of us. It was funny but she didn't care. And I think that it was just like my mom, she didn't care who laughed and kept working on her English - even getting named one of Louisiana's Teachers of the Year.

I think my mom would have been blown away to see an African-American voted as our President and I'm sad that she wasn't here to tell her friends how her daughter helped get him there. In fact, I think after blinking away tears and hugging my dad she would have looked at us and said, "Next we vote a Latina into the White House."

Yup, this week has been an exciting one. I can honestly say that I now believe anyone can do anything. It fills me with so much happiness.... and a twinge of sadness that my mom couldn't be here.