Connect What is the most rewarding part of being a mom?

Being able to provide for my kids a life I never had. While also emotionally pouring into them and shaping them in all of the ways I never had. Teaching them kindness, service to others in need, and also strength and dignity is my focus. Because raising children to be empathetic and morally sound adults is so crucial to both their future but the future of their communities and families.

What is the biggest lesson motherhood has taught you?

The biggest lesson is that my trauma from childhood are not the burden of my children. That the life my children deserve is worth all I have to give. Motherhood has taught me forgiveness for my childhood trauma and experiences. It has shown me a level of grace I didn't know possible. That most parents are trying to figure it out, all formed off a foundation provided their parents and so on. And each generation we learn and fix what didn't work. Grace is a beautiful thing.

What would you do with $20,000?

I would donate the entire 20,000 to our local homeless non profit. As a child of homelessness myself I was blessed by the kindness of strangers completely changing the trajectory of my life. I do not have the need for 20,000 but I know there many local families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and would be blessed by this. Afterall, true empathy and altruism lie in the small moments of service to our community.