Who I am as Daughter

I am Daughter to two totally awesome people. My parents have been married for 29 years! 29 years! I'm trying to convince them to go on a European cruise for their 30th anniversary next year. But I digress...

As the years have gone by, I've had the pleasure of experiencing my parents in different lights. Growing up I saw them as Mom and Dad. After college, I was jobless for a while so I lived at home and experienced Mom and Dad as Husband and Wife. This was actually pretty entertaining because I got to see what they love most about each other and what makes them want to strangle each other. And best of all, we became more than Parents and Daughter, we became friends. (I would say we became friends with benefits citing the parental aspect as the benefit, but the phrase just seems wrong in this context.)

One of the many many reasons my mom and I share such an awesome relationship is because we are so similar. And one of the many many ways my mom and I are so similar is in the way we express our emotions. Let's just say we both have a hard time concealing our emotions (read: we don't.). Don't get me wrong, my mom is the strongest, bravest, most loving and caring woman I know, but because of her emotional openness, I always saw her as being human. Whereas my dad was always the goofball super-human. I mean, c'mon! He's my Daddy and I was/am his little girl! Although I remember when that image shattered in a big way for me (which will be written about in a later post; don't worry, it's on the list).

To be honest, my mom and I had been cultivating the mother/daughter/friend relationship while I was away at college which was a bit rough as I was about 800 miles away. But we managed quite nicely. We saw each other through rough times and awesome times via cell phone and weekend visits. Through homesickness and surgeries, through weekends alone and favorite new books, we saw each other and we grew in our new expanded relationship boundaries. To this day, I find myself talking to my mom about things I only talk about to one other person in the world, my best friend. And Mom and I are both better for it.

My dad and I also have a unique relationship. You see, growing up I was neither tom boy nor princess. Although I will not deny that I was somewhat spoiled being the only daughter with three sons (I always had my own bedroom while two of my brothers always shared a room). While my mom was always my Girl Scout troop leader, my dad was always my soccer coach. And this is no small thing. As referred to in the title of this blog, I got my first pair of soccer cleats when I was five years old. Soccer is a huge part of my life (read: fine line between passion and obsession). And my dad was a big part in bringing that passion to life. He also brought me up listening to the classic musical tuneage of Journey, the Eagles, Kansas, Boston, and Pink Floyd while I schooled him on the harmonic boy bands like N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, and 98 Degrees. Nowadays we talk about everything from soccer, work and co-workers to music, backpacking and Michael Buble.

When I lived at home during my unemployed period (also for the months that I commuted to my jobs), I came to love the evolving relationship with my mom and dad. From Parents and Daughter to Friends, my relationship with Those-Who-Gave-Me-Life is freaking awesome!