Unconditional Love

As teenagers we often do not appreciate the important things in life. We don’t care about such things as family, a good education or our health. As a teenage girl my friends came first over everything. I was too busy to spend time with my parents and too interested in boys and the mall. When my mom wanted to go to shopping or go to a movie with me, I was embarrassed to be seen with her. It was something that teenage girls did not appreciate or welcome. On the other hand, I always enjoyed spending time with my father. He never went through my personal things and never listened in on my phone calls. He just wanted to know that I was doing okay and that he was there if I ever needed anything. In high school sports were a big part of my life. I was on the girls’ rugby and soccer teams. My dad attended every game and always made time to help me practice.

My mother never attended a game and she never taught me how to play. I always wondered why she never attended my games or took any interest in what I enjoyed to do. However, that didn’t mean she was not there for other things in my life. Nonetheless, at that point in my life I was angry at her because she seemed to never be there.

My mother didn’t care about my sports or hobbies. She cared about my grades and image. She always pushed me to do better in school and realize that getting my education is my first priority. I knew I was going to get a good education but sports made it a lot easier to attend school. Three years later high school was over. I was now a university student with a full-time scholarship to the University College of Cape Breton (UCCB).

My mother’s wish finally came true; getting an education became my first priority. My involvement in sports stopped and it was now something I did for fun on the weekends. Even though I missed it, I think my father missed it even more.

I managed to rough out the three years at UCCB and receive my first degree. It was now time for me to move on with my life and leave home. I just wanted to get away from Cape Breton and leave everything behind. The summer before going away to Halifax was amazing. My friends and I partied every night and enjoyed each others company. Even at the age of 21 my friends came before my family. I spent all my time with them and never took a day out to hang out with my mom or my dad. I just knew I was going to miss my friends.

The day I left home was a sad one. Until that point I never seen my father cry and even that day my mother and I were fighting about something stupid. We said our goodbyes and I went on my way to the big city of Halifax. I can still remember crossing the MacDonald Bridge and having the feeling of wanting to throw up. This was definitely not Cape Breton. I made it through those first couple of months away from home but I always found myself going back whenever I had the chance. Being away from my parents made me realize how important they are to me, especially my mother. I missed the little things she use to do for me. She always made sure my work clothes were washed and pressed, made sure I always had money and always made sure I was taken care of.

I can remember one weekend that I went home. Even though I had my own money, my mother always insisted that she give me some for gas. Like always she had soap suds on her hands from doing the dishes and she asked me to go into her purse for some money. As I was digging my way through her wallet, I found something I had never seen before. It was a picture of me at my championship game in high school. She was there that day and took the picture. It was all worn out because she had been carrying it for three years in her purse. I never asked her about it because I knew at that moment she did care and that she had always been there through it all. I missed her just as much as she missed me. But, we just didn’t say anything to each other. Therefore, the biggest lesson I had finally learned from her was just because something is not said, it does not mean someone does not care. They just show it in their own way. I just never realized it before, that she was there for it all.