A Recipe Book For Adulthood

All the lessons that my mom teaches me, to help me navigate adulthood, all go hand in hand. They are bound together like a book. A recipe book for adulthood. No one is too old for their mother’s help.

My mom is a true goddess. It is true, I grew up with a mother and a father. However, a little over 5 years ago, when I was 24, my dad unexpectedly died. Now, as a single parent of 3, my mom is doing one of the hardest jobs there is. Being a single parent. She is truly my hero.

She has been teaching me the ways of navigating adulthood, since I am still new to it. One of the lessons she has been trying to teach me for a while now is to not over share. Ever since I was little, I was diagnosed with a learning disability. And anytime, I get a job, I feel as if it is my responsibility to let them know. My mom tells me to not tell them. She says it is not their business and they will just fire me.

She was right. I should have listened to her. Lesson learned. With my last job, I had, I was in training, and on day 1 of the 5 weeks of training I told my trainer of my learning disability, so she knew how to best help me learn the material, so I could succeed. She ignored me. She treated me like dirt. She told her boss I was not paying attention. That is when the real discrimination began. They called me a liar to my face, saying I do not have a learning disability and called me lazy. Said I had 3 days to improve my learning disability 100% or they would fire me, and they wrote me up for having a learning disability. So, for my mental health, I quit. It was not worth it.

My mom has been trying to teach me the importance of “no job is perfect; you need job stability.” I have had issues with difficult jobs. Like all of us, I have had bad employers, drama in the workplace (I hate drama, but sadly it is everywhere we go), promises made that were never kept. Honestly the list keeps going on. This lesson is still a work in progress.

I chose a hard career path, photography. Since finishing college, it has been extremely difficult for me to find full-time work in my field. So, I have had to make do with what I have in the retail, warehouse, delivery service, restaurant fields, etc. and do my career path on the side. It is a hard path, but I knew it would pay off. Especially since I have my mom along my side supporting me. I am so lucky to have her in my life supporting my dreams. She wished I went for the money careers, but she supported that I followed my passion.

The toughest lesson my mom has been teaching me, is being fully independent. Being able to pay all my bills. A few years ago, it was so pitiful. But luckily, each year, it has improved. Maybe not by much, but by a fair amount. And it shows me and my mom and my aunt that I am doing my best to be who I want to be and live the life I want to live. There is nothing more in this world that I want than to be fully and completely independent. And I have finally reached that point. Being fully independent. All because my mom helped me navigate my life.

Thank you mom for all that you do for me every single day! I love you more than you know! Happy Mother’s Day!