My Mom Took Care of Everyone

My mom was a stay-at-home mom, and she took that role seriously.

Dinner was on the table every night for all of us, the house was always clean, and our deck at

the beach house had tons of flowers on it. She made sure we were safe on the beach and doing

well in school.

When my dad introduced me to Freddy the Seagull on the day we moved to the beach, my mom

saved bread so I could go down and feed him and his family. Even when my sister and I were

much older, she still taught us to believe in the magic.

She also taught us to believe in ourselves. That was a challenge for me, because I grew up with

spatial dyslexia, a severe learning disability. I was kicked out of kindergarten. My parents were

told I would never learn to read or write, and that I belonged in a school for kids who couldn’t

learn. My mom didn’t accept that.

She spent all my school-age years getting me help. She was my advocate and my homework

tutor. When I switched to a school with smaller classes and more one-on-one help, she made it

happen. In high school, she was my college counselor, too. She found a place for me to go and

sat with me through every application. And now, because of her, I’ve written a book—Freddy the

Seagull.

She did all of that on top of volunteering at my high school. She and my dad chaired one of the

biggest fundraisers the school had ever had.

My mom was my best friend. When she got sick, I couldn’t picture life without her. Before she

died, she asked me to promise I’d keep up my volunteer work. She even asked me to keep

passing out scones at the Washington State Fair. I told her I would.

In the days after she died, all I wanted to do was quit. The beach didn’t feel magical anymore,

and even Freddy, my seagull friend, felt far away. But I kept going, because I remembered the

promise I’d made to her.

That was more than six years ago. Today, my therapy dog, Ford, and I spend time with people

who may be going through big changes or need comfort. I still hand out scones at the fair. I do it all in

honor of my mom, and I hope I’m making her proud.