Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me

by Whoopi Goldberg

Probably none of us had the childhoods we think we had. We only have our individual memories of what we believe happened. You can talk to siblings born two years apart, and they will give you different perspectives on the same event or experience in their childhoods.

Not everybody gets to walk this earth with folks who let you be exactly who you are and who give you the confidence to become exactly who you want to be.

From as early on as I remember, my mother would say to me, “Listen. The confines of this neighborhood do not represent the confines of your life. You can go and do and be whatever you want. But, whatever you choose, be yourself.”

Her whole day-to-day perspective was to live in the most practical manner possible. For my mom, that meant not letting other people’s opinions take your attention or energy. She thought the most important opinion was what you thought of yourself and how you lived your life.

I like the quiet of the night. Nothing is expected of you at three in the morning.

“Listen, there are going to be terrible things that happen in the world. And there’s nothing you can do about them. They are what they are. But your decision is going to have to be, ‘Do I allow those bad things to stunt my growth as a human being? Am I just going to sit down and die over it? Or am I going to try to figure out how to be better?’ Which one do you think is a waste of time?”

The best way to honor your mom is to laugh.