WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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(violin music)

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- [Voiceover] Every age
I turn I think about

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how old of a child my mom
had when she was my age.

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At 21 she had a one year old,

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at 25, a five year old.

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I try to imagine what
my life would be like

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now with a child.

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I got glimpses of it carting
around children in the snow

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through Brooklyn when I was a nanny.

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The brand of mom I nannied for

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differed greatly from my own mother.

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These moms were all over 40.

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In fact most were over 50,

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and they had houses and
plans and firm goals.

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These ladies bought organic produce.

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They were nice, don't get me wrong,

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but my mom and I had more fun.

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When I was little I would sit
in the front seat of the car

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and we would belt Alanis Morisette.

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Caps for Sale was Craps for Sale

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every time I convinced her to read

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it that way to me at bedtime.

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And I wouldn't be able to stop laughing.

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When other twenty-somethings

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were bumbling at bars until closing time,

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and washing hookups down with cold pizza,

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my mom was busy being a mom.

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In time though, I did turn into a teenager

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who could wipe their own snot
and make their own meals.

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Moms and teenage daughters
notoriously spark

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misunderstandings and melodrama,

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and we weren't any different.

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In arguments I would glare at her

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and hatefully spit the words,

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you're suppose to be a mom.

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I was adamant that moms

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didn't litter the kitchen
table with bottles and mixers.

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They didn't date 21 year olds,

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and that they didn't
attempt Sylvia Plath antics

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involving ovens.

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I've always hated Sylvia Plath since

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and have refused to
read any word she wrote.

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I forgot that before being
a mom she was a person.

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A person on their own journey.

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A person who experiences sadness,

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and needs help too.

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A person whose identity is not just mom,

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but also woman and artist and lover.

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Sometimes I think about my mother

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like she's a person who
isn't related to me.

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I marvel at how brave
and strong this woman is,

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to have raised me without
the support of her family.

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This woman who put herself through college

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by working at minimum wage jobs

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while still taking care of me.

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And I can only feel grateful,

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grateful that I have a
mom whose not just a mom,

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but is also a friend.

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(violin music)