Today, on this auspicious 10th day of April (hmm…I wonder why it seems like such a grand day?) I am going to flip the conversation. Instead of talking about being a Mama writer, I’m going to talk about parents of writers. Particularly, parents of six year olds who decide that’s what they want to do. (When, of course, two weeks earlier, said six year old wished to be a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader.)

As parents, it’s easy to look at our child(ren) and imagine their futures. Little Susie will grow up to be a doctor. Little Tommy will grow up to be a rock star. Lawyer. Politician. (Okay, truly, does anyone DREAM of that for their children? But I digress…)

We look at their little personalities blooming and say, “He’s so creative. He would make a great artist.” Or “he’s such a ham, he’s meant for the stage.” Or any of the other assumptions we make about who they are going to become someday.

I wonder if my parents ever imagined me to be something in specific. Because the one thing I know is that no matter what they may have thought, when I told them what I wanted — to be an author– they let me live my dream. They not only smiled and read the stories I wrote, but they encouraged me. They simply believed I could.

My mother once told me that I could be anything I wanted to be. I replied, “I want to be a writer.” And she said, “Then you will be.” It was a simple conversation, from Mom to little girl, but it was powerful beyond words. It told me all I needed to know. That I had the right to dream, that I could dream and that if I wanted it enough, I would some day be there.

There are a lot of people in my life that inspired me, that encouraged me and supported me toward my goals. From my fellow MamaWriters who share the ups and downs now to my amazing husband. But it all started with two – my mother and my father. And really, a parent’s encouragement, a parent’s belief in your dreams, can make you feel like you can fly. Whether you are six or thirty-six, knowing your parents are proud of you means the world. But at that critical young stage when a person is just beginning to feel the joys and pains of the world, just beginning to know what it means to make your own choices, realizing that your parents believe in you — it can mean putting a little girl on the path to her dreams.

My mother passed away two years ago, and I know that had she been in this world to see today — the release day of my first book– she would have been proud as a peacock. In fact, I can almost imagine her teetering off the edge of a cloud about now, about to fall off, as she watches with a big smile on her face. She is proud. I feel it.

I hope that as my little munchkin grows up and he comes to tell me he wants to be an astronaut, and then he wants to be a baseball player, and then he wants to be an airplane, that I can give him the same love, support and encouragement that my parents gave me. Look where it got me.

And Mom and Dad? Thanks.

————–

Jeannie Ruesch
SOMETHING ABOUT HER, NOW available : Amazon |BN.com | ebook @ The Wild Rose Press
“…a rich, well-presented story.”~RT Book Reviews
~ “A wonderful debut!” ~NYTimes bestselling author Gaelen Foley