One of the comments on another post was a tag... tell 6 things about yourself that others may not know. This was left by my Aunt (or Anut, as we like to call her) Molli... her number 6 really struck a cord with me. How different things are but how they are the same.

Her number 6 is "I wish I could hear my mom say she is proud of me".
On one hand, I wish for the same thing, not only for her but for me. I have never heard my mom, or my parents say they were proud of me. I have only heard I love you from them maybe 5 times in my life and from my recollection those were empty statements. I have never heard that they are proud of me... I have heard a lot of discouraging statements from them...
"why did you move so far away?" because of work
"why did you build a house with so many steps in it?" its a bi-level - 14 steps total
"why is your daughter's name so long?" because we like her name
"can we call your son this instead because we don't like his name?" no you may not

My mom and Aunt Molli are sisters. And yet so totally different. Molli is constantly praising her children and grandchildren, proud of their accomplishments and the lives they have built. I can see how Molli longs for those words from her mom as I long for them from my own. Although, even if my mother were to say those things to me today, I wouldn't believe them. They would be coming from a cold hearted person, void of any emotion that doesn't benefit her.

On the other hand, Molli's mom - my grandma - was/is a very important person in my life. I spent nearly everyday of my childhood with her. At her side, singing, sewing, playing games. We lived in the middle of nowhere, she was my friend, my playmate when my brother wouldn't have anything to do with me. She always praised me, told me she loved me, smiled with me, laughed with me, cried with me. I miss her everyday.

It is so interesting how Molli, may not have heard these things from her mom, yet I heard them from her but not my own mother (confused yet? :) ). And how both Molli and I lavish our own children with what we didn't get from our own mothers.