We're celebrating Mother's Day this year by honoring our own moms here at NBC10. This story in our My Mother series is from NBC10 Reporter Rosemary Connors who always wanted to be just like mom.
When I was a kid, all I ever wanted to do was follow in my mom's footsteps, literally. I walked around in her sneakers, slippers, and, of course, high heels. And they were big shoes to fill -- she wears a size 10. Still, I wanted to be just like her.
Growing up, my mother, Mary Flannery, worked as a print journalist. She was a newspaper reporter in Washington, New York, and in Philadelphia. As a sportswriter in the 1970s and '80s, she covered the NHL. On the health beat, she filed articles about the AIDS virus at a time when little was known about it. Later, she wrote a book detailing the lives of people with mental illness.
I always knew my mom had a unique job, but it's been more than that. Through her work, she's given me lessons in life. She taught me the importance of giving voice to people who are voiceless. She taught me the value of caring about what happens to the community where you live. My mom taught me how to work hard. She inspired me to become a reporter, and it's these lessons that motivate me every day. My mother always says to me, "You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it."
I know how lucky I am to have her as my mom, and Mother's Day reminds me of that every year. She's my biggest fan (actually, she's tied with my dad), and I count on her for unconditional love, support, and guidance- but not shoes. It's been a long time since I could even slip my feet into them. These days I wear a (massive) size 11. And while I may have outgrown her shoe size, there's no way to measure how much she means to me.
