Expectations and Mom

Mom did not exceed expectations in her lifetime. She blasted through them. Other people’s expectations did not limit her. She was an ordinary Irish Catholic girl. Except when she wasn't.

Girls aren’t good at math. 

Mom was outstanding. Her high school did not participate in a statewide test. They sent her to take it as an exception to find out how good she was. Mom finished somewhere between 4^th to 13^th, and the people in the awards ceremony said she was near the top of that group.

Women did not study Engineering in 1953. 

Mom was one of the first 3 women to sign up in a class of 300 men. She graduated with an Associates. Dad and mom got married within 2 weeks of graduation.

Housewives don’t go to college. 

Mom wanted her bachelors. When I was born she decided to stay home to raise me, my sister and brother. When the youngest went to college, she went back to college. Mom graduated at 40. Earlier Mom decided to volunteer, took enough training to be volunteer nurses aid at a hospital. Whatever she wanted to learn she did.

Mom suffered from mental illness starting in her 20s. Mom had physical problems living in constant pain including arthritis, over 20 operations and a knee replacement. People with any of these lifetime conditions aren’t expected to do much. 

Mom & Dad camped cross county, learned to ski, traveled internationally, and drove between New York and Florida homes. Remember in her 50s at an air show climbing into the pilot’s seat of a military helicopter over many awkward controls to see what it was like. Even when Mom needed a walker, she got one with a seat so she could go places.

Who doesn’t think you can do it? What expectations are holding you back? 

Mom would tell you if you think you can, that is all that matters.

"My daughter just thinks that all moms fly the Space Shuttle." — Air Force Col. Eileen Collins, first female Space Shuttle commander, 1999