Your mom is my mom! She wanted to be a mechanic, but her parents wouldn't let that happen, so she became one of Germany's first female factory administrators. She married a Canadian soldier and crossed the pond with him, and once he left the military, she learned to farm. From scratch. She taught me my first basic cooking skills, how to garden, and how to raised cows and chickens and horses (and ducks, geese, cats, dogs, goats, sheep...). She taught me how to kill the fleas and respect the bees. She taught me to swim in water so deep that one can't see the bottom, and how to climb a tall, tall tree without getting dizzy and falling out of it, and how to find the North Star. She taught me how to make jam from home-picked and wild berries, and how to best hang clothes out to dry without bleaching them. She taught me how to see the little things, and even more importantly, how to appreciate them. She taught me how to see the world even when I stay right at home. Thank you, Mom.

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