Life Through Korey’s Eyes

Hooray for today! Korey’s 27.   Here’s one mother’s perspective about her daughter. The goal isn’t to embarrass or offend, but if your eye twitches while reading, it’s her rolling her eyes at me.

On being hurried. I cannot count the times she helped search for my keys, wallet and phone. As a little girl, she’d get eyeball-to-eyeball, put her pudgy little hands on either side of my face and say, “Mommy, THINK!”  The missing item was found.  Without her at home, I now say St. Anthony’s prayer for missing things. It’s on my fridge. Something about that guy makes me THINK, like Korey did.

On shoes. “You have a shoe fetish,” she announced. Not true! She had way more shoes than I did. Her answer? “Mom, just because they’re ugly, doesn’t mean they don’t count!”

On fashion. When we get together, I weed my closet. I try on; she sits on my bed commenting. The bed was good for rolling around, laughing at my couture. On my Asian influenced tunic, “That would be fine if you were, like, going to China tomorrow.”  On my red pleated skirt and matching blazer, “Perfect if you were on THE LOVE BOAT!” Pitched that, but I confess salvaging the tunic from the pitch pile.

On strong-will.  Korey went to parochial school, for myriad reasons. Education quality, K-8 model. There was a third reason: uniforms. This strong headed child would’ve fought daily with What Not To Wear. Her strong will now serves her well.

On quality. Why spend $30 on several pair of slacks, when you could buy one good pair for $90? Korey learned this at a young age. It’s hard, because I KNOW in my heart, the Tuesday truck just delivered new merchandise at TJ Maxx.  She wonders why I brag about my discounted treasurers to friends. It’s like a small victory. Still, I know on many levels, quality beats quantity, just about every time, unless we’re talking socks here.

On adventure.  Korey’s college year abroad in France unleashed the adventure animal in this child. (“Mom, I figure I had 18 vacations, while visiting other countries!”) Jeff was reluctant to send her abroad, but you can’t hold kids back; better not try. Fortunately, we could help her financially.  Jeff demanded, “Do NOT go to Greece or Spain.” She did. Note: the only time she called home crying hysterically that year, was when her camera got pick-pocketed in Athens. Daddy kharma.

On security. Since France, Korey has seen much more of the world through architecture school opportunities. And the one item that, hands down, gets packed first? Her pink baby blankie. Even strong girls need that comfort sometimes. I suggest nobody tries to pick-pocket the blankie, or there will be hell to pay.

On perseverance. On 12/23/15, Korey passed the 7^th of 7 exams to architecture licensure. It wasn’t easy. She poured her heart and noggin into preparation. Sometimes she passed. Sometimes she failed. They’re tough for a reason. She hit a stretch last year, after two “fails”, and couldn’t hop back on that horse. Then, from somewhere she figured out how to mount that pony and said, “Giddy-up!” Korey recognized in undergraduate years that she wasn’t the best sketch artist, or the best model builder, or even theorist, but she felt she could pull her skills together, make an excellent architect. I don’t doubt that.

On quiet. Korey’s not a jabberer (unless it’s happy hour). I’ve learned to appreciate silence. It doesn’t always mean a person is being moody, mad or sad,  because he/she’s quiet. It’s okay.

On friends. Heaven help her select a bridal party one day. Korey has, pockets of friends in every port: home girls, dorm girls, sorority girls, architecture gang and her Denver gang. There are pockets within pockets, as well. Are you sure I’m related to this girl?  Can you imagine 72 bridesmaids?  Me neither.

On leadership & confidence. For a girl who hated to make phone calls to order pizza (Here Mom, YOU do it!) she can enter a cocktail party alone and make fast friends. Jeff and I’d like to take a little credit for her networking chutzpah, but I doubt it.

On straightforwardness. Sometimes Korey’s brutal honesty hits me like a ton of bricks, but there’s nothing like honesty to earn you respect and get me back in line.

On learning. One word, “Insatiable.” Right now, she’s knee deep into the election procress; we discuss the characters and issues regularly. Korey’s participating in the Colorado Caucus and that’s got to be a first for any branch of this White house! She’s passionate about issues needing to be rectified. I sure hope the First Mother’s room has a lot of windows in the other White house.  Go Get it Girl!

Every mother can blabber on and on about how great their kids are and personally, it reminds me of those endless holiday letters, which make me nauseous. But I’m sharing some of these qualities, because if I write them and I read them, I can learn from her. Happy Birthday, Cookie!