A year and a half ago, my mom, my sister and I met up for dinner at a cozy Italian restaurant in New York City with two of my aunts and my aunt’s longtime best friend.
Over a couple glasses of wine, my mom, her two older sisters and our family friend ― who all lived, worked and partied in Manhattan in the 1980s ― spent the evening reminiscing about their apartments, jobs, relationships and other escapades at the time.
I learned a couple of things about my mom that night ― for example, in her early 20s, she dated a very wealthy man in another state who used to fly her back and forth on his private plane ― that I’d somehow never known or ever thought to ask about. It was another reminder that before she was my mom, she was a person with her own life and set of experiences that had nothing to do with me or my siblings.
Over the years, you might slowly pick up bits and pieces of your mom’s life story, little breadcrumbs she drops here and there. But for many kids, myself included, the focus has almost always been on us ― not our parents ― since the day we were born.
Below is a list of things you may not have asked your mom, but should. The answers to these questions will help you know her more deeply and hopefully give you a better sense of her past, her life experiences and who she really is.
