Keyword: Bolt

Bolt, Washer, Nut (Hardware)

Bolt, Strike, McQueen (Lightening ____)

Bolt, Run, Sprint (Move fast)

Bolt, Dart, Arrow (Medieval ammo)

My biological mother never played much of a part in my upbringing, but I was fortunate enough that my school’s gifted teacher took on the responsibility of being my maternal role model by adjusting her career to follow me through every year of school. Of course she supported me through my education, specifically by advocating for me to become dual-enrolled in college at the age 14. But her support extended beyond my success in the classroom. Not only did she supply me with whatever physically necessities that weren’t provided at home (usually an endless supply of snacks), she also nurtured my emotions that I never felt comfortable sharing elsewhere. She was never capable of having her own children but insisted I was her adopted daughter. Now, all these years later, I have my own daughter, named after the woman who raised me. I can only hope she grows to be as brilliant as her namesake, to which I owe all of my success and stability to. As mentioned in a recent episode of Dear Hank and John, if you want your legacy to carry on, become a teacher.

Oh! my mother! She is my favorite person ever. She's a legend, has so much love, makes incredible food friends are always welcome over for, brought me to a midnight showing Rocky Horror Picture Show for my 16th birthday, encouraged me and my siblings to follow our wildly divergent dreams, she is just everything. Theres always room at our house for anyone, shes so loving and caring, so much so that all of our friends and community just call her "mom." She has so much love that she has a habit of picking up strays (stray humans in need of family) which has given me a few quasi-siblings and such a wide reaching net of love. I truly would not be anywhere near as generous as I am today without the love, acceptance, and generosity that she raised me with.

In response to the mom prompt :) My bio mom is not a great person and I chose to break contact with her years ago. My grandmother (on my dads side) however has always been there for me. My parents had busy jobs when I was younger and while they were at work my grandma always took care of me and my nephew. She always took us to walks in the forest and its where my appreciation for nature came from. I know remember our afternoons with my grandma as the brightest days of my childhood. Even now as I'm older she's always there to talk, play a boardgame or drink some tea together. Because of her I've never felt like I lacked a biological mother.

I’m a 21-year-old student at a religious university where, as a feminist, progressive member of a traditionally patriarchal, conservative church, it’s sometimes hard to find models of who I can be as a woman. I’ve found those models 1) in my amazing cat/dog/human mom professors and 2) in my own mother. Mom loves medieval theology and reality TV. She’s a federal employee who protests on the weekends and brings our neighborhood together with a garden tended by the local toddlers. When I was a teenager going through faith crisis, she told me leaving my church wasn’t jumping on a cliff and encouraged me to make the decision that was right for me. She’s not afraid of new ideas. She’s constantly rethinking her own beliefs. She taught me to do the same and also to plan parties and also to take long walks in the woods. Because of her I’m not afraid to take up my space in the world, to live a brave and beautiful and messy kind of life. I will always be grateful for that.

I have a lot of moms. I have my mom who raised me when my parents divorced. My grandmother who helped my mom and told me that everything would be ok when my life felt chaotic. I have a stepmom who came in with a kind and super supportive presence when I was a teen and patiently put up with ... well, me being a teen. I have the teacher moms and the grad school moms plus a few church lady moms. Women who decided I am worth looking after and make me believe it.

But my most precious not-quite-mom is my friend Susie. When I was 17, I needed a housemate who was both willing to live with a 17-year-old and responsible enough to actually pay rent. Susie was newly separated and needed someone who'd let her keep her gorgeous persian cat. We both needed those things fast and decided to take a risk on each other. Since then, she's become the person whose opinion and wisdom I seek first. She helped me see myself more truthfully, with more care, and guided me towards mental health support at my lowest moment. She is my biggest fan and let's me know in a dozen ways. We don't live near each other anymore and I miss her every day even though we talk often. I'm not sure that I'm someone who believes in fate, but meeting her when I did makes the strongest argument I've ever heard.

Over a week ago, I visited a friend of mine in Madrid. It's great to have friends all over the world, because you can save money by staying at their place. So I stayed at her and her mom's apartment for four nights. And her mom was truly amazing, she cooked for us despite her long working days. We would have wonderful conversations in broken English. Together, we would watch Spanish game shows on tv I barely understood , yet she encouraged me to play along and learn a bit of Spanish that way. She would help me prepare a truly Spanish breakfast and recommend places for us to go. She even tried to make their traumatised cat get used to me, and it kinda worked (which felt really special). Truly her mom made it an even greater time. Super sweet, super helpful, and truly an amazing woman. Shoutout to my favourite Madrileña and her wonderful madre.