An Interview with my Mom
For my first blog, I decided to interview my role model and biggest inspiration, my mom. I knew she was the person I wanted to interview as soon as I thought of this idea because I grew up hearing her story but had never gotten to dive deep into the things that have made her who she is today. I learned many things from the interview and it put into perspective the many ways my mom has put our family first and the sacrifices she has made for my sister and I. The interview was very important because growing up I always got to hear my mom’s story through our aunts, uncles, and grandparents but getting to have a one on one interview on her life allowed me to understand her on a profound level and how strong of a woman she is.
My mom was first born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1962 where she lived with her family until she was 18 years old. My mom was always curious about exploring the states but never got the chance to. She still applied to jobs in California to see if she would get any offers, until one day she got a job offer as a nanny and decided it was time to explore the United States, though there was still one thing making her feel like she had to stay in Denmark and that reason was for her family. Sadly, when my mom was 13 years old her mom passed away. This has shaped her in many ways throughout her life along with moving away from her family at such a young age, even though her family encouraged her to continue her education and accept the job as a nanny. With her family's encouragement, she moved to Los Angeles and attended Pasadena Community College while nannying. When the family no longer needed a nanny, the father of the family offered her a job at his office which allowed her to grow her network and eventually led her to meeting my dad. After 2 years, my dad proposed and they got married in Florida where my dad was from. Once my older sister was born in 1998 in Pasadena, California, they moved to many places around the U.S. and even moved to London for a short period of time. My family has always been spontaneous and adventurous which has led us to living in many different houses and cities. After London, my family moved to New Mexico to reunite with close family friends which is also where I was born. Once being in New Mexico, we moved to Houston, Texas where my mom got her masters at the University of Houston in English literature. We lived in Houston for 7 years then my parents decided to move back to Los Angeles, where she first started out her journey.
My mom is a very creative person who loves interior design so each house we live in is a space where she uses this creativity, which is a part of what encourages us to explore living in different houses. Shortly after she moved back to Los Angeles, she and my dad decided to separate. This decision led to my sister and I being predominantly raised by my mom which is what made me admire her so much. My mom explained in the interview how she doesn’t regret anything and it meant getting to spend more time with my sister and I. While I was in high school and my sister was starting her education at Chapman University, my mom was working for a pharmaceutical company called Takeda working for their communications department. Takeda is where she also works to this day and she has been with the company for 8 years now.
My mom loves her job and explains how she gets to incorporate her creative side with the communication side. Throughout the interview, my mom explains to me how her work ethic is what has allowed her to continue working through the obstacles in her life and how the obstacles in her life have made her grow this work ethic. As my sister and I were growing up, I always recognized this work ethic through her hard work and dedication for taking care of us. This interview made my mom and I grow closer and I was able to learn so much about her story and the many ways she has influenced me into becoming the person I am today.
In conclusion, I was able to learn so much about who my mom is and the obstacles she has endured to get to where she is today. This interview taught me the strength that my mom has carried with her throughout her life and how hard she has worked for my sister and I. I will always be so proud of my mom and thankful to her for everything she has done and this interview truly brought us closer to share her story together.