Growing up with my mom as a single parent meant that she was my best friend, and my role model. In my eyes, she was (and still is) the coolest person in the universe. She did her part to educate me in the ways of culture: films, TV shows, books, music. She helped me mold my taste.

Until I was about 9 years old, I slept in her large California king sized feather bed. She decorated the room in earth tones, and there was always a sea breeze floating through the window. Each night she would make the bed before we went to sleep, never in the morning. We would sleep in late on the weekends, and on the weekdays we would always stop by Kalapawai Cafe for a poppy seed muffin and hot chocolate for me, and a black coffee with three sugars for her. She had an old black Jaguar with a killer sound system.

Weekends were always a party for us. It seemed like there was literally nothing we couldn’t do that was boring. I had riding lessons every weekday (I was a hunter jumper for most of my life), and on Fridays we rushed home from the stables to look at what movies were showing. Usually we had about ten minutes to shower and change. We saw about three movies every week. My film education started early. Then on Saturday mornings, after sleeping in till ten, we had breakfast at a place called Lani’s. They had the BEST fried rice and toast. My mom got a local dish called a “Loco Moco”. It’s just rice, gravy, over easy eggs, and a hamburger patty. Lani, the owner, new us very well, and we would always chat about our week with her. She was very grumpy, but loved us. Lani was a single mom too, and like me and my mom, her daughter looked exactly like her.

Every night as I lay in bed, my mom would watch TV and flip through a magazine. Usually the shows were either Sex and the City, or Absolutely Fabulous. In case you’re concerned about the swearing/drug/sex references that I was exposed to, my mom and I had an understanding that what I saw, I didn’t have to repeat. I could be amused by the things I saw, but that didn’t mean I had to emulate them. But most of the time I was too young anyways to realize what was happening. Getting back to Absolutely Fabulous, it was like mother’s milk to me. It was my favorite TV show. It was my mom’s too–she dressed up as Patsy for Halloween while her friend dressed up as Edina.

Recently we’ve been re-watching the old seasons, and I forgot how much they made me laugh. Tonight I found my favorite episode, called “Fish Farm”. It is SO FUNNY. I’m sitting here at my desk drooling from the laughter. But even better than that, it reminds me of my childhood. My childhood was different; exciting, adventurous, crazy, wonderfully fun, sometimes scary, sometimes painful. It was unique in the greatest sense of the word. Without it I wouldn’t be who I am now. I love who I am now, and I love my life. Ab Fab just reminded me of that tonight.