“I think what is incredibly interesting about being a woman is that it is constantly evolving. This is why I wanted her to be here as part of this story. You think of milestones … you want to be 18, you want to be 21, then oh my gosh you’re 30, now you’re 40…

But once you become a mother, your milestones not only change, but they’re not yours anymore. For me, it was that I became a mother, then I became a mother of a school age child, then a mother of a difficult child, mother of a teenager. With that, I’ve had to go through a metamorphosis every single time. I learn more about myself. I learn more about what I’m capable of, but I also know what would destroy me.

I love being a wife, I love being a teacher. But I was born to be her mother.”

“She’s been able to have experiences that I never did. At the core, she is so remarkable. I don’t think I made a mark on the world as she has at her age.

I had the means girls. I had the reverse racism because I had an Anglo last name in a very Hispanic community. I got beat up in the bathroom. I had hatemail sent to me. Horrible things were said. I had to hide and suppress a lot.

She doesn’t hide from anything, though. She meets things head on with a strength I didn’t have at 18.”

“I do face things head on, but the reason I do it is that’s what we always did. If I dealt with girls who were being mean or I had a bad experience with a coach, we were taught to face it head on. Talk about it. Question it. That’s how we were brought up. I always stand up and speak up. If you don’t speak up about it, you can’t complain about it. ”

“It is so much about that first impression. It gets you something. It gets me heard when I might not otherwise. There are things I’ve been able to get accomplished because I have a pretty face. If I didn’t, there would be no reason to listen. I think it’s powerful. I know that this may be what gets me in the door, but once you listen, you’re getting so much more.

I wanted my children to know that they are beautiful. I didn’t ever want them to question that. But I also wanted them to know that your heart makes you beautiful. Your kindness, your brain makes you beautiful.”

“Women are nurturing and soft and emotional, but I don’t think we’re born like that. I think that’s the role we’ve been given by society. I think women are more nurturing because we have to be. But I also think women are more authentic. Women are more comfortable in who they are, once they find it.”

“Generation gaps exist, they’ve always existed. But I believe there is no greater gap than between those who were born into the social media age and those who were born before it. It’s so definitive. I can’t explain it, really. Social media just changed everything.

We all go through puberty naturally, but now you also have to go through a social media version of that. Some of my friends got an Instagram account in 5th grade. I didn’t get mine until I was 14. And I learned that I was already behind when it comes to what type of things to post.”

“Growing up, you heard about politics and the president and things like that, but you weren’t bombarded with it every day. It wasn’t in your face all the time unless you were obsessive about the newspaper or something.

Now everything is slammed into their faces. And there is the prevailing idea that you must live up to social media standards. If you make just one mistake, if you’ve ever done anything that someone thinks is wrong, you can pay for it for a long time.”