I've got a pretty terrific mom

I remember Mother's Day of 2007. That day, my mom dropped me off at the Atlanta airport, my arms filled with luggage for a new adventure. I had come home for a week or so after finishing final exams for my Junior year of college, but I was about to fly back to Texas to participate in the "Leadershape Institute," a week long leadership training course for all of Trinity University's student organization leaders. But that wasn't the reason my mom was walking me all the way through the security line, proudly holding back tears ("What kind of Mother's Day gift is THAT?!" one of the people ahead of us in line asked when we explained the situation). The reason my mom was experiencing more anxiety on Mother's Day than most mothers should have to experience on ANY day was because the day my training course in San Antonio ended, I was scheduled board another plane. However, instead of bringing me home, this plane would take me from San Antonio to Dallas, to Miami, to La Paz, Bolivia, to my final destination of Sucre, Bolivia. There, I would live with a host family for four weeks and take six hours a day of intensive Spanish language classes at a school recommended by Trinity's study abroad counselor.

But I wasn't making the trip as a participant in a study abroad program or with a student group. Not even 21 years old, I was traveling to a poor, South American country TOTALLY on my own. A "Happy Mother's Day," indeed.

But the story didn't end there. That day -- 6 days before my big international flight -- I was still waiting on my US passport to arrive in the mail. I had applied for it 11 weeks beforehand, like the passport office advised, but thanks to a sudden increase in strictness in documentation requirements for persons crossing the US/Mexico border, there was a huge spike in passport applications that caused mine to be delayed. So during those six days while I was spending 8 hours a day (during regular workday hours) in leadership training courses, my mom was at home or in her church office on the phone, trying to get in touch with someone from the passport office or with my US Congressional district's representative. My mom not only allowed me as a college student to go completely solo on an international trip to a country whose government wasn't the most stable in the world, she also spent hours "on hold" in effort to ensure that I wouldn't miss my flight for lack of a passport.

In the end, my completed passport was expedited and Fed-Ex'd overnight to University Presbyterian Church, with much thanks not only to my mom (obviously), but also to the office of US Representative Hank Johnson (Georgia 4th District!). It arrived around 10am on May 19th, about 8 hours before my flight was scheduled to leave. In the end, I had an amazing trip to Bolivia. I learned more Spanish in four weeks than I probably learned in all of college prior to that point. That trip gave me a huge confidence boost with my Spanish and piqued my curiosity to some day live in South America. If it hadn't been for my trip, I might not have gone to Peru and I might not be here in Hollywood now.

My mom was "the strict mom" among my friends growing up, enforcing midnight curfews and holding firm on something like a "zero tolerance" policy (well maybe a LITTLE tolerance, but not much!) for violent or sexual movies and video games. But for the past six years, I dare to say that my mom has striven to be the opposite of a "helicopter parent" (a term frequently used to describe parents of college students who "hover," attempting to micromanage their children's lives). After I graduated from high school, she continued loving, encouraging, and supporting me 100% as I "fled the nest." I attended college 1000 miles from home, spent every summer during college 200 miles away in Montreat, spent an entire year after college in Peru, and am currently spending this year on the other side of the country in Los Angeles. Indeed, it sadly seems that much of the time I've shared with my amazing mom over the past few years has been during trips to and from the airport (after returning from Bolivia that summer I was home for only a day or two before taking another flight to Evanston, IL to participate in a week-long conference on ministry!). But I could have had none of these opportunities without the unconditional, unwavering support of my mom -- and my dad! She's the best mom anyone could ever dream of, and I'm so proud to see myself going down a similar path to hers. Happy Mother's Day!