At 30 years old, I have come into myself as a woman. Last night was the first time ever I wore a dress by choice to a casual event and liked, no loved the way I looked. I’ve arrived. I have stepped out from behind my mother. The pressure she put on me to be the type of woman she was: overtly feminine, gaudy, Italian culture. I spent my teenage years pushing back. Thinking I was too skinny, too shy, too nervous to wear anything that drew attention to me. I always wore baggy clothes to hide myself. To fit in the background while she had a spotlight on herself. She thought it would highlight me too. Here in 2021, almost 4 years without her, I am happy. And I do know she would be proud. I am proud of myself, my career, my marriage, my life. And I wonder, was she ever actually happy? I think she convinced herself she was. #mom #daughter #woman #grief #truth #memoirwriting #1990s https://www.instagram.com/p/CQWIN-XMNJI/?utm_medium=tumblr
















