10 Things I Respect And Admire About My Mother
/ Kristy KempBy: Tom Miller
1. She has never been afraid to be herself or rock her style.
She's never been one to adhere to trends or styles just because they're the in things to do.
2. She never seeks the spotlight for herself.
You will never see her trying to be the center of attention. If anything she deflects it to her kids. She
has always been willing to step back and let us shine. She has actually gotten more attention trying not to get attention then she probably would have if she were trying to purposely get attention.
3. She has never allowed others to define who she is as a person or dictate what she does or how she lives her life.
She always said people probably think she's a little crazy for some of the things she's done, but she didn't care and it didn't stop her from doing those things.
4. She never does anything half assed.
If she does something she gives it 100% effort or she just won't do it. If that means staying up all night to complete a project or study for an exam when she went back to finish college several years ago or make preparations for an event then so be it. Whatever it takes she's up to the task. Sometimes we have to make her slow down because she will work herself into exhaustion.
5. She is an intelligent, wise, and thoughtful person and she would rather be known for that than her physical beauty and sexuality.
To that end you would never see her on social media posting half naked selfies or wearing provocative outfits or engaging in quasi provocative behavior or doing things that would take attention away from who she is as a person on the inside. She is a mother and a wife and she respects those roles and she respects herself and her family enough to keep certain things under wraps if you will. She has earned more respect from others just being herself and allowing who she is as a person to shine through. She showed us by her daily example that women are a lot more than just those things.
6. She uses criticism as motivation rather than allowing it to stop her from doing the things she wants to do.
She wanted to have a lot of babies and despite the criticism of large families she did it. She wanted to birth babies at home and despite the criticism of it being dangerous she did it. She wanted to home school despite and the criticism that we would be dumb and stupid she did it. When people told her she shouldn't or couldn't she found a way to do it.
7. She's the anchor of the family.
How she managed to keep up with 13 kids and a husband while keeping it all together is beyond me. I had asthma fairly bad as a child and many times I would wake up struggling to breathe in the middle of the night to see my mom sitting by the side of my bed looking concerned making sure I was okay. Sometimes she made me sleep in my parents room so she could keep a close eye on me during the night.
8. She's not high maintenance.
There are times when my dad has to make her get something nice for herself because she would rather spend the money on things that benefit others. She has never been one to need a lot of material things to make her happy. She's not into shopping and pampering herself. She derives joy from writing down her thoughts in the wee hours of the morning. She's filled tablets over the years with her thoughts. I've seen bits and pieces over the years but I guess that's her way of leaving her wisdom behind for us to partake of when she's no longer here.
9. She's genuine.
What you see is what you get. She's not going to try and be something she isn't to try and impress people she doesn't need to be trying to impress.
10. She raised us to be good people and she cared more about us achieving that than anything else we accomplished.
She would always say if we didn't do anything else in life she wanted us to be good people. She's proud of the academic success we've achieved and continue to achieve, but she's prouder when we get recognized for our integrity and honesty and generosity and selflessness as people.
