True Beauty Deborah Lin

Oprah never read me bedtime stories. Dr. Phil never advised me on my inspirations and aspirations, suggested careers that were seemingly tailored all too well to my strengths and weaknesses, gave me practical insight into the enigmatic minds of the male variety. Then again, to cater to my (almost) every demand from conception to college years would be a nearly impossible and thankless task. Why would these American icons bother with a job that is not lucrative, Hollywood-worthy, and possibly heart attack-inducing? Yet, in the scope of things that really matter, are we not first impacted and impressed by our parents, whether we hail from a single-parent family or a dual-parent one, whether we are raised by our grandparents or adopted into a loving foster family? Perhaps our parents are not usually the first faces that come to mind when we think about our role models of choice. Yet in the end, these leaders of our home are still present, still influential, and still as embarrassing as ever.

My mother is a complicated woman. She stands two inches under five feet, thus allowing me to tower over her in my 5’1” glory, yet her voice could command an army. In contrast, my father’s calmer demeanor is probably better suited to fighting...