Mom always had an adventurous spirit and she incorporated it into my childhood.  We would often go on adventures together and as we did, our catch phrase would be “We are the intrepid explorers!”.

I remember moving to Seattle when I was 7.  Mom and I loaded up our 1990 Toyota Corolla with everything we could fit and we left.  We drove the entire way but made lots of stops to see the sights.  I don’t really remember much about the trip, but I do remember reaching Mount Shasta – it was HUGE and beautiful as it was covered in snow.  It was truly magnificent.  The entire time, mom and I were screaming “WOW!  It’s HUGE!  And WHITE!  LOOK AT THE SNOW!”.  She decided to pull over so we could have an impromptu snow fight (even though there wasn’t much snow on the ground and we didn’t have gloves on).

I also remember all of our camping trips.  Mom loved to go camping so whenever we had a free weekend and a few extra dollars, we would load up the car and pull out the map.  I was responsible for reading the map and telling her where to go.  We would have a lot of fun walking along the beach (I was never allowed to go into the ocean while in Washington because the rip currents were too strong).  We collected drift wood and sand dollars that would decorate our back porch for years.

Mom’s adventurous spirit never fully mixed with my very cautious spirit.  I am the type of person who is very cautious, over thinking, planner of every detail, and I prepare for everything.  Mom was always down for an adventure (even if it meant little to no planning).  While I am not nearly as adventurous as she was, I certainly have loosened up a bit.  I don’t mind an adventure every once in a while.  She pushed me to get out of my comfort zone and try new things – and thanks to her, I am much more willing to do so (even though I still have the urge to carefully and strategically plan out the entire trip).

Mom gave me the confidence to be an “intrepid explorer”.  I truly believe that one of the reasons I was able to get through her death was because I kept reminding myself that I was still an intrepid explorer.  Now I was just doing the journey alone.

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