Swallow Your Pride

It’s safe to say that I was brought up in a very hard-headed household. Every person in my family is as stubborn/proud as they come, and neither of us will ever really back down from an argument until we completely exhaust ourselves and go to sleep. The stupid thing is: we continue to fight even though we realize we’re wrong. From the way we act, we should have been lawyers rather than nurses. This isn’t entirely true for each member of my family though. My mom will argue for days with a person if she truly knows she’s right. I’ve literally seen her get out of the car, in the middle of the drive-thru, walk into the McDonald’s, demand the manager, and show him the pickles in my burger that she had specifically asked to be removed. It’s a pretty funny thing to see when you’re kid, and it hasn’t happened  in almost 15 years.

Now, I’ve gotten into my fair share of arguments with my mom, and some of them have been pretty epic. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the perfect son. And a good two-thirds of the arguments we’ve had typically ended with me realizing I’m wrong, but fighting on anyway. The point I’m trying to make is: regardless of who was right or wrong, my mom would eventually just admit defeat and apologize. At this point, I’d be doing my victory dance all the way into my room and continue on from there. Looking back at it now, she only waved her white flag because she loved me, and she wanted nothing more than for us to be happy again.

As much as I hate to admit it, I have the biggest problem apologizing to people. Gretchen will be the first person to tell you that (and if you’re reading this baby I’m sorry, and I really am working on it haha). I guess when it’s all said and done, none of these arguments will ever really matter. And what’s important are the people you keep around you, and the love you have for each other. No matter how proud you are, no amount of it will ever replace the people closest to you.

I can learn a lot from my mom.