When You Grow Up

I’ve been hopping from state to state over the past two weeks. To New York, then Indiana, back to Ohio and then on the hottest day of the year (So far…101 degrees!!) I drove to Illinois to see my family. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve loved solo trips to see my parents. If I think about it, I never really got alone time with them after my siblings were born. I was an only child until I turned six. I got the best of both worlds, though, and we picked my sister up from the airport after her month long trip to Ireland.

The biggest treat of the trip was seeing my mom’s new office that she has named The Station. From installing new floors to picking out furniture to negotiating her lease, I’m just so proud!

So what does she do? While wrapping up her career as a psych nurse, she enrolled at IIN. She’s now a Nutritional Health Coach and works with women with autoimmune disorders. Her space allows her to meet with them 1-on-1 and host events. After owning my own business for almost a decade, the sight of seeing my mom doing this makes me really emotional. I love that I can give her advice on hosting things in her own space, share marketing ideas and refer people to her.

In a way, it seems so perfect. Throughout my entire childhood, she would say, “I wonder what I’ll be when I grow up.” And I’d say, “Mom! You already are grown up!” But now, I get it. Our stories are never complete.