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Brad's avatar

Love this - so beautiful. What an amazing woman. What was her childhood like?

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(an)drew tarvin's avatar

That's a great question. I have some insight into that, but I should ask her that in the podcast :)

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Annie's avatar

Love this! My mom shaped me in many wonderful ways!

-Would love to find out what her boundaries were regarding humor: laughing vs firm lines of “hey, that’s not cool mister”

I have two extremely funny kids and I try not to shut down their humor because it’s so good and will serve them so well if practiced and honed—but there’s a fine line between silly/playful and disrespect. I’m curious if and how she intentionally navigated that?

-How did she decide “if it doesn’t work out, you can come home and live with me” would motivate you or cause you to give up when things got hard (which life inevitably is hard)?

-Did you have siblings? If yes, did she intentionally show up for each kid differently based on who they were and what motivated them? If not, did she intentionally put you in uncomfortable situations so you’d take brave steps instead of hide behind her?

Love what you do Andrew! Thanks!

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(an)drew tarvin's avatar

Wonderful questions, Annie!

For your second question, I think she knows I'm ambitious, so I wouldn't take the offer as a shortcut, but rather as a safety net if need be. She was right!

And for the third question, I have two older brothers and she did (and still does) show up differently for each of us. She challenged each of us growing up to step outside their comfort zones in different ways (me with humor, Dave with sports, and Adam with socializing more with people).

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Sue Legacy's avatar

Drew, this is a lovely, vulnerable story about your journey and how accepting your mom was of you. Happy birthday to your mom! She sounds remarkable. I'd want to know, Mom, where do you think your optimistic, loving and brave attitudes about life come from? And like Brad, I would be very interested in what her childhood was like.

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(an)drew tarvin's avatar

Great question, Sue!

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Palmo Carpino's avatar

Thanks you for sharing this Andrew. My mom has long past. Respectfully, could you give your mom a big hug and kiss from me? (no tongue)

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(an)drew tarvin's avatar

Haha, yes I can do all of the above.

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MaryAnn Brookhart's avatar

I love this story. My mom did the best she could but as a mother, I did show up and I’m still showing up.!!!!

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