Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, godmothers, aunts, and friend-aunts out there! It truly does take a village to raise a child, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for all the strong, supportive, passionate, caring women in my life. I’m raising a glass of bubbly to all of you as we speak.
Motherhood has changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. Having kids has taught me so much about unconditional love and patience (although it can be tough to be patient with the daily tornadoes caused by three little ones!). It’s one of the most rewarding, hilarious, challenging, hair-raising things I’ve ever done, and I’m endlessly thankful for my three little ones every day.
This Mother’s Day I’d like to honor two women who have inspired me and taught me so much about parenting: my own mom, Camille, and my grandmother Patsy. They’re the two women I look up to the most. And while both of them are wonderful mothers, they showed their love so differently. I feel truly blessed to have experienced both types of love, and to be able to pass it all along to my kids.
My grandmother always had complete, unbiased, unconditional love for her grandchildren. She’d welcome us with open arms—and often with an oozy grilled cheese or quesadilla, two of my favorites—and let us veg out in front of the TV while “Fraggle Rock” was on. I remember the summer we moved from the Bay Area to Montana, it was such a gut-wrenching experience, because it felt like I was pulled right from my grandmother’s arms. (I was 13, and I listened to the “Forrest Gump” soundtrack on repeat that summer to ease the pain.)
My mother, on the other hand, gave me the strength to push myself and face reality and responsibility. I always knew that I was unconditionally loved, don’t get me wrong, but my mom was never one to baby her kids. She inspired us to go out into the world and do great things, to be a leader that others could look up to. She would say things like, “Don’t be a cheerleader. Be someone people can cheer for,” and I’ve taken that to heart. Because of her inspiration, I went off to boarding school and NYU and knew that I was going to be more than okay, even though I was miles and miles away from home. Her love gave me the courage to explore Hollywood, and to move to Austin and raise kids of my own.
Now that I’m a mom, I pick and choose elements from both of their parenting styles. My grandmother followed the mantra of always being kind, and that’s something I try to instill in my own kids. I want them to be nice people. And like my mom, I’m encouraging my kids to speak their truths and to be authentic. 
It’s even more tangible now that I have a daughter. I want her to feel empowered to go out in the world and be whatever it is she wants to be, to be rough and tough and independent.
Thank you Mom and thank you Grandma—not only for all you’ve done for me, but for passing on wisdom and lessons that will live through our family’s generations. I love you!
Who in your life inspired you to be the person you are today? Drop a comment below, I love hearing your stories and getting to know you on a personal level. Happy Mother’s Day!
31 Comments
Milena Vilas Boas
So beautiful words, I even moved with the beautiful parables written by you gen❤
Hadley McAnally
Someone who has inspired me is my aunt heather she’s like one of my best friends and my other aunts and my grandmothers.
Jillian Madden
What an amazing post! I was inspired by my older sisters and my aunts and cousins and I got super lucky to have an amazing role model in my mom.
Hailey Owens
Beautiful post, Gen!!! I am so thankful for all of the mother figures in my life. Enjoy YOUR day today ❤️
Leila Rose
My Aunt really inspires me to keep pushing no matter what life throws at you. We go through many storms in life and she taught me that at the end of every storm there is always a rainbow ?. Happy Mother’s Day Gen ❤️
Blanca Miranda
Thanks Gen ? love reading your work. I’m always inspired! Enjoy Momma’s Day.
Mercy Preces
Happy Mother’s Day, Gen! You are an amazingly loving, devoted, compassionate and loving mom?? Have a wonderful day with your Beautiful family!?????
Breanna
I love how you’re incorporating both styles, they are so necessary! I look up to my mom so much! My dad has a job where he was out of town all the time, so my mom was a single mother in some ways. She taught me that a woman can do anything a guy can do, and led by example, maintaining things while my dad was gone, whether that meant plumbing, first aid, or gardening. She taught me that with patience and the right attitude, I can handle anything that comes my way. Happy Mother’s Day to you and all the incredible women that shape our lives!
Zahra
❤❤❤
daniela
Hi gen, I just wanted to tell you that I’m not a mom but I would have liked to have one since my condition does not allow it, I take care of my neighbors like a job, sometimes it’s difficult but most of the time it’s nice when you hear them laugh, You see walking for the first time or saying your first word. Thanks for your tips
Jam
Crying now?? My mom is the strongest woman that I know, and she’s my rock, my everything. She’s always teaching me, and I’m so grateful to have her.
Genie Kennedy
Thsnk you for this beautiful prose. It is good to remember & appreciate the women of past generations that have molded are lives. Forever grateful for their gifts of love & understanding!! Happy Mother’s Day!!!
Elaine
Happy Mother’s Day! I enjoy your blog so much, and this post especially. I am blessed with beautiful strong women in my life and hope to fill their shoes with my own kids. Thanks for your inspiring messages always! God Bless.
Melanie Arresse
Loved your post! My mom also inspired me, thanks to her I am the person I am today, she tought me everything I know today.
Sabrina Travers
Wonderful post! The person who inspired me was my grandmother. She basically raised my brother and I from a very young age. She was a very strong, independent lady with very strong old school family values. When her young husband passed away she raised her 6 children on her own, working and supporting them to be whatever they wanted to be in life. She also encouraged my brother and I with the same. She was my everything. We lost her 3 years ago this July, but I have 2 young girls of my own that I try to instill her values in. My oldest who was only 4 months when she passed carries this picture around everywhere of my Grammy holding her at 3 weeks old. I cherish that she does that and she knows her as Grammy much like I did. While she doesn’t remember her, I tell her stories about her like she does to keep her memory alive.
Karen
Thank you so much for sharing part of you, your history and your soul. Your openness is so much appreciated. Love and light. xo
Anna
Very lovely words Gen.
Shannon Whitlock Lawson
The most beautiful words. Mothers and Grandmothers are so important to our lives. Thanks for sharing your life with us.
LC
My grandmother inspires me the most. She is genuine, caring, a great listener and story-teller. She’s 81 years old and I still love to get her talking about the time she lived in Japan where my aunt was born, or in Panama where my dad was born. It’s just fascinating and motivates me to want to travel and see other parts of the world too. She is also strong, independent, and tells it how it is. She has always been there for me, standing up for me as a child, and a listening ear as an adult willing to guide me to doing what’s right for me in my life. I love the way she treats people, especially the ones she loves. She reminds me that it’s nice to call people up every so often and actually have a conversation on the phone to catch up and found out how they are really doing. Sometimes it seems with social media that reading someone’s media post is automatically connecting us with our friends and family. That’s not true! You truly connect in real time communication, and let’s be honest what we post is just a snid bit of what’s actually going on in someone’s life! And last but not least about my amazing Grandma is my favorite phrase she’d use to scold us, “(Name) Don’t be a pill!”
Jess
Happy Mother’s Day Gen!! I hope you had a wonderful day. Thank you so much for recognizing aunties 🙂 I don’t have kids of my own, but i’m the oldest of 6 kids and have 3 nephews and 2 nieces! You’re such a wonderful Mom and it’s awesome that you took time out of your day to post this tribute. Always very inspired by your blog!! Have a great night 🙂
Vanessa Jackson
I would say the person with the greatest impact in my life was my great grandmother. I was blessed enough to be surrounded by three great grandmothers, one great grandfather, and many great-great aunts and uncles and I think that has truly shaped the way I am today. But my father‘s grandmother, is truly my hero.
Got to give a little backstory here… Her and my great grandfather came up to Michigan from Tennessee in 1944 because Michigan State University was expanding and my great grandfather was one of the best bricklayers in the country. He died when I was very young. Another amazing person to talk about another day. My great grandmother along with her two young children: my grandmother and my great uncle, came up right after he did. She received her teaching degree/certificate at Tennessee A & I. Now, it is called something else and for the life of me I can’t remember. Anyways, since she was a black woman they told her she had to start all over and that that university wasn’t “credible.” We’ all know why . She had two small children at the time and there was no possible way for her to go back to school for four more years. So she was the first in our city, which is the capital, to own her own business. A lot of great women already ran their own businesses here, but none actually owned the land that their business was on. She opened up her beauty shop until the city bought her out when she was ready to retire. She continued to do hair in the basement of her house into her 90s. I lost her 8 years ago this October and it feels like yesterday. I could go on and on about this amazing, loving, strong, and generous to a fault woman. Let’s just say she faced so much tragedy in our family with so much dignity. I also don’t know how she got out of bed some days. I never saw her sad or depressed. She just kept on pushing. With everything that she went through (unbelievable obstacles) it still astonishes me to this day. If I end up being 1/10 of the woman she was , I’ll be one lucky person. So sorry for the length of this Gen! I can go on and talk about her for a long while. Hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day!
Andria
I lost my mom, day one and was adopted. I guess it was a blessing because I got an amazing mom. She’s really nice. So nice that she tells corny jokes, and won’t ever tolerate the word hate. Even if you said “I hate waking up too early “. She said that hate is “such a strong word”. I have a diehard tomboy sort of streak in me. A true Wayward Daughter through and through. I came to California at 18 alone and don’t see her much now. Email isn’t really the same. I hope she knows she’s why I love to encourage people and care about them all so much. I adopt anyone that lets me and I am a loyal friend. I don’t know who I’d be if she hadn’t adopted me. I don’t believe I’d want to have any other person to call mom.
Elena Alkhimova
What a wonderful, sincere post. Thank you, Genevieve, for sharing your experience and love. You are the ideal model to follow for all women in the world and for your beautiful daughter. My grandmother is 93 years old. She survived the Second World War and the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. Despite the horrors experienced by her, her heart has not lost a feeling of love and kindness. She is a real hero for me, an example of how to be a strong and loving woman and mother for my two children. And also I am very grateful to my mother for unconditional love and care forever. Happy mother’s day to you and your mom and grandmother.
Kim Jacobs
My grandmother inspired me to be the person, the woman, I am today. She was there when I was a child, even when my own parents were not. At a time that she should have been looking forward to taking it easier in life, she took on three grandchildren and raised us. She taught me acceptance of myself, and the values that I shaped my life with and, in turn, instilled in my own children. It brings me great jou to see my grandhildren being brought up with those same values.
Jordy
Happiest of Mother’s Day to all the badass women of the world!
Kelly
My Grandma and my mom are two of my biggest inspirations. My Mom is living proof that soft and strong are two characteristics that work well together. She showed me that strength isn’t necessarily loud and aggressive but quiet and powerful. My Grandma passed away four years ago but her patience and self control were immeasurable! I learned (and continue to learn in reflection) from her that not everything requires a reaction. That lesson has come in quite handy while parenting my four kiddos!
Allie
brilliant read Gen! Thanks for being an inspration
Jennifer Pike
Happy Mother’s Day to my mother, Karen. She and I have talked about this, but there are constantly instances where I am so thankful for how she and my dad raised me. And how I plan (or don’t plan) to raise our future children a certain way based on things I’ve noticed. Kind of similar to the stories she’s told me about grandma and how you vowed never to say certain things – even though it didn’t end up working, like when she vowed to never say “because I said so,” since, as she told me, sometimes there’s no other answer when you’ve exhausted everything else. I know this year she’s learned that perhaps I’ve become a bit TOO much like her in many ways, and I think it scares her a little lol. But it makes me happy – and I think it makes her happy too. She certainly installed that steel rod up my spine and taught me to always speak my mind. <3
Happy Mother's Day to my mother-in-law, Fran! I'm grateful to her for giving my husband life and raising him to be the man he is. <3
This Mother's Day post certainly wouldn't be complete without a Happy Mother's Day wish for my godmother, Judi Kuppler! She has been such a mainstay in my life – from the get go. She was not only my babysitter until my dad retired when I was 10. She also happily filled in the grandma role at school events so that I'd have someone, since my only grandmother passed away when I was very young. She was also yet another wonderful female role model in my life as I was growing up. She is one of those rare women – of which I've been lucky to be introduced to a few more since joining Jeff's family – that possesses the perfect blend of grace and strength. And she does a good job of reminding me how strong I am – but also that I don't have to be all the time. I can let people help me shoulder the weight. The most notable example of this was when my dad was in the hospital the final time. She was at the hospital with me and my mom. She stayed all day – and I held onto her like a security blanket. She was my strength that day. She also shows her strength as she's gone through her lung cancer diagnosis. I'm thankful everyday that I still have her in my life. I remember when she was diagnosed – I was terrified. And she was so remarkably calm as she comforted me. I'm not even mad at myself that I cried writing this. <3
Lastly, I want to say a Happy Mother's Day to those friends of mine (and there are many) who are mothers. I'm so happy to be one of those friend-aunts, as Gen put it! Or those who are pregnant currently. Or are trying to get pregnant. And to you, Gen, for inspiring so many of us on this crazy ride called life! Your words of wisdom are incredibly inspirational and thought-provoking and open my eyes to things that I may not have given any thought to before. You all are amazing and deserve to be told so.
Jen
Victória Poitevin
I’m Brazilian and I’m following your instagram postings. I love the tips you give! I have a daughter of one year and six months who looks a bit like her daughter.
I love your work and your blog! I hope someday we’ll be able to reciprocate to exchange maternity tips.
kisses Victória.
Ashlee
Love absolutely love your empowering words!! Motherhood is a very wonderful experience and it’s full of surprises!
jean sorrell
My mom had an horrendous childhood, fullof pain and loo. Her own mom passed away when my mom was only nine years old, and my mom, being the eldest daughter, had to care for her at home as she passed.
My mother had healthissues that were quite painful,heart attack, diabetes, and other things.
I never saw my moyher cry, no matter how shehurt. If there was one thing that my mother taught,and never really spoke, It was that you need to develope your own strength, and carry it with you, you don’t need to show it to the world, but quetly keep your courage with you. It will see you through much in life, and it will be something that people notice, though you never brag about it, or wear it on your sleeve, Sometimes a whisper gets more notice than a parade.