My Mom

Question: What kind of woman is your mother?

I was in high school in the mid 70s when somebody asked me, “Don’t you feel deprived because of your mother’s job?” I didn’t understand the question. I always thought my mother’s work was very exciting, and my sisters and I never felt that she didn’t have enough time for us. She’s always done the ordinary things that mothers do: getting us up in the mornings and ready for school, helping us with our homework.

We used to do our homework together: she was finishing her PhD, and we were in middle school. On Fridays she would do the grocery (杂货) shopping while my sisters and I were horseback riding or taking ballet (芭蕾舞) classes or guitar lessons. We had a wonderful family life.

When she went back to work, she told us we could call her at the office if anything ever came up. So we called one time when she was working. The receptionist told us our mother couldn’t come to the phone because she was on the floor with the senator (参议员). When she called back, we asked, “What were you doing on the floor of the Senate?” Of course, we were too young to know what she really did.

As a working mother, she had got fabulous juggling (变戏法的) skills. She knew how to pay attention to everything all the time. That might help her as Secretary of State, but otherwise, she didn’t think being a woman would make any difference. She was as determined as any of her predecessors(前任) in the job. She conducted the foreign policy of the  United States as it should be conducted. She was a tough, gutsy(有勇气的)  lady, and she was extremely talented; she always taught us that being charming and attractive was not inconsistent (不一致的) with being smart and agGREssive. But the real secret of her success is that she works like a dog.