This afternoon, I stopped by my orthodontist office to pay the bill. As I was pulling in, a woman and her daughter followed me closely, and the mother honked, which I originally thought was directed towards me, but I wasn't really worried about it.
As I got out of my car, and walked toward the entrance, I noticed that this girl insisted on being at least 25 feet ahead of her mother at all times. She insisted on having a hateful demeanor, and looked at me with the thought of "What the **** are you doing here?"
I looked at her mom, and my heart began to ache. I was walking closer to this woman than her own daughter was. At no time, whether my mom and I are on good or bad graces, do I walk that far away from her. I always walk right beside my mom, not one step ahead nor behind.
Of course, one shouldn't expect this girl to hold the door open for either one of us. She walked right in there, closing the door behind her. At this point, I was only 3 feet behind her, and her mom 3 feet behind me. Naturally, I held the door open for this woman.
She smiled, and then apologized to me if I thought that she was honking at me. She was honking at the squirrel in the road. I said I understood and that I wasn't worried about it at all. I told her to have a good afternoon, and went on my way. A smile and a kind word was all it took.
But I still wish that I would have said more. I wanted to apologize:
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the times your daughter has treated you like this. I'm sorry for every time she has denied that you're her mother. I'm sorry for every time she has insisted that she is better than you. I'm sorry for every time she has taken for granted all of the things you provide for her on a daily basis. I'm sorry for every time she has yelled at you simply because you asked how her day was. I'm sorry for all of the things she does behind your back. I'm sorry for everything your daughter does to make you feel inadequate. One day, she'll realize what she did. She'll realize that she was truly blessed to have you as her mother. Until then, stay strong."
But most of all, I am sorry for the things I listed above that I have done. At no time has my mom ever really been a bad mother. She's given me her all and made me her world. And still, in my adolescent ignorance, I insist that I know better than she does.
This girl really gave me perspective today. Thank you, heartless pre-teen.
