Butterscotch Pudding and the Canadian Devil

I think its hard enough to be a mother before you even get around to having guilt from personal choices effecting your child. I was a nasty sort after my parents divorced around 2002 and while I'd like to blame it all on crazy teenage hormones the brunt of my actions greatly affected my mother. It doesn't help that I've turned into one of those people that communicates best in written word so that I never have good answers for her when she wants to discuss our relationship.

Just this last week I commented to two of my old high school friends that are both mothers now. I guess it rather has me in the mood to be honest and dig deep. On top of that I've been doing my hobby work in genealogy along with writing a short quip on diversity. Today's reading focused mostly on issues of nationality which is one of the views I take of my mother. An article popped up yesterday of an open letter from a francophone Canadian to English speaking french descendants in the rest of Canada. In the open responses I was asked "Are you Canadian, Hannah?" All of this somehow has lined up in my mind to answer a question my mother posed to me about "how am I like her and what value she has to me?"

There is no real answer to a question like that of course because parents as I told one of my pregnant friends are so integral to the child's development. There can be no one thing that is wrong or right you did. Parenting is a lottery for which the payout is just as likely to be a resentful child. However this brings me to my point on how I would answer my mother. Her biggest contribution to me was not only her time and patience but also her identity and how her nationality shaped me. Having parents of two different nationalities even if I lived in the States has greatly benefited me as a person so this list is for you Mom!!

What my Canadian Mother Gave Me that no plain American Mother could: 

1. An obscene nostalgia for red maple leaves, and all things butterscotch.
2. The awareness of language especially regional dialects.
3. Subtle immersion into french culture that stems from Quebec, westward.
4. The ability to criticize blind patriotism by showing me two nations faults and gifts.
5. A revelry for classical Europe in all it's diverse glory.
6. Perfect memory of the first two lines of "Oh Canada!"
7. Expressions of different educational systems and a belief that opportunity lies ahead.
8. The experience of music be it old, new or foreign.
9. The ability to spend dollars in coin form and a reason to say "looney".
10. A sense of global culture and travel.
11. Sensitivity for the experience of foreigners, immigrants and even tourists.
12. The need to view family in their own cultural framework, not mine.
13. A place to feel at home and in wonder of it all at one time.
14. Biological connection to not only amazing different people but also different races.
15. The feeling of having a second home or somewhere to run to if I'm scared.
16. Something to laugh about myself at but still feel proud at the same time. 
17. Stories of adventures she had different yet not so different of mine yet to come.
18. Opportunity to see her youthful side whenever we went home together.
19. Awareness of the legality involved in adult life through her choice to not give up citizenship.
20. Lastly, simply a wonderful mother who I know gave me advantages above all else.