If I were born again, I would want to be born as you.

My mom has always said this to me, and it hurts as much as it reminds me of how proud she is of me. It’s hard to reconcile the feeling. How can it be possible for one sentence to cleave my heart in two and simultaneously fill me with the sunshine-warm pride that only a mom can instill?

My mom, a second-generation Latin American, has always given me what she could not have. Becoming a mother as a teenager, she didn’t get to go to college to fulfill her dream of becoming a postpartum nurse, but instead poured herself into being the best mother her children could ask for, positioning us to reach for our dreams. I reap the benefits of her sacrifices every day, as a person privileged enough to be attaining an advanced nursing degree.

How can it be possible for one sentence to cleave my heart in two and simultaneously fill me with the sunshine-warm pride that only a mom can instill?

-

I see my mom in the women I care for in clinics and hospitals: in the gentle mom stroking her newborn’s head; in the tired mom giving the best parts of her meal tray to her toddler; and in the worried mom asking questions about a sick child in Spanish. I see her in the women who nod politely as medical decisions are made for them in a language and culture they do not understand. I can’t help but feel grateful my mom grew up bilingual.

As a nursing student, I try to replicate the selflessness and boundless compassion my mom exemplifies in my patient care. My goal after I graduate is to work in a neonatal ICU, caring for newborns and helping parents participate in their babies’ care so that they are with their children every step of the way. I owe it to my mom to take the gifts she gave me and pay them forward to the families I hope to serve one day.

Sabrina is a second-year Clinical Nurse Leader master’s student who earned a degree in biology from the University of Richmond. Currently a communications strategist for the Virginia Neonatal Perinatal Collaborative, she lives in Richmond with her fiancé and their dog, Suki.