We were always close

I come from a very small family. When I was growing up, there was just my brother and me, my mother and father, and my maternal grandmother. That was it. There were no cousins, aunts or uncles. So I grew up very happy with my own existence and enjoyed being independent, even at school.

Because I was also a child with a bit of strange taste, I was constantly bullied. I never liked having a lot of friends, but I preferred to have a few close friends that I could really talk to. Because of this, my mother and I built an even closer bond. When I told my mother that I was being bullied, she was constantly by my side.

As a young girl, I studied music and eventually began performing professionally. Because of this, during my senior year of high school, I asked my mother if I could be homeschooled, which would better fit my rehearsal and performance schedule, and she happily agreed. Since I was young, tours required an adult chaperone, so my mother came along.

All of this helped to build a strong bond between my mother and me.

She also had a close relationship with her mother

I also come from a family of mothers and daughters who are very close. My mother was very close to her late mother and her mother before that. I am happy to be able to carry on that tradition now that I am a mother of a five-year-old girl and a ten-month-old son. I hope that my daughter and I (and of course my son) will be as close as my mother and I are.

When I have told people in the past how close I am to my mother, I have received two reactions. Some say I am too close to her and that is not good. Others think it is wonderful and hope that one day they too will have such a close relationship with their children.

I am proud to call my mother my best friend. I mean, she is the woman who gave me life. I love being able to talk to her about anything, have her constant love and support, and more importantly, hear her unbiased views. My mother has never been the type to just tell me what she thinks I want to hear, but what I need to hear. She tells it like it is, and that is a huge advantage on every level.

Being close to my mother has not hindered my development, as many people believe when someone is too close to their parents. If anything, it has helped me grow. I live happily in Italy with my husband and our two children.

Thanks to my mother’s encouragement, I felt confident enough to move to Italy at the age of 24. My mother has always been a cheerleader in my life. I am so lucky to have her and I hope and pray every day that I can be half as good a mother to my children as she was to me.