My mom celebrated her 61st birthday on Tuesday. Thankfully, she’s still hanging out with me in NYC until I get my apartment and am all settled. I decided to ask her what her top six moments of the last 61 years have been. Here you go (in chronological order and not necessarily order of importance):

1. Her wedding day – My mother has always said her wedding day really was one of the best memories of her life. She remembers being full of hopes, dreams and excitement.
   
2. The day she gave birth to each of us – My mom loves us limitlessly. She says despite the painful experience of child birth, and how hard it is to raise kids, she wouldn’t have it any other way. I tell ya, we aren’t easy cookies so there’s a lot of love and patience there.
   
3. The day my brother and I each graduated college – For my mother this was her American dream. All she wanted was to raise two professionals. We did it!
   
4. Visiting the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in Lourdes, France – My mom is a very devout Catholic and says ever since she was a little girl she dreamt of traveling to Lourdes but never thought it’d be possible. Thankfully, she checked it off her bucket list. (photo credit: Mom)
   
5. Seeing my grandmother turn 91 – My grandmother is not only 91 but is as healthy as a horse. She’s a little frail like most of us would be, but has a sharp tongue paired with sharp wit. She went to the doctor a few weeks ago and tried hitting on the man! Here she is surrounded by mariachis on her 91st in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
   
6. Vacationing in Argentina with my brother and I- This was probably the most surprising one for me. She told me that for her “eso fue lo máximo” (it was awesome). When I asked her why, she said she never imagined us being all together on vacation somewhere like Argentina. When we were younger we didn’t go on vacation and any trips were to Honduras to see family. It was a fun treat to be all together…sipping on wine…lots of wine.
   

From listening to her I was reminded of the importance of gratitude. She’s so thankful for all of these experiences. She’s humbled by so many of them and realizes how fortunate we are. She doesn’t feel entitled or like these are experiences she’s earned. She’s just grateful.

The crazy thing is five out of her six best moments have happened in the last 31 years. As usual, she reminds me it’s never too late.

Victoria Moll-Ramirez is a broadcast journalist based in New York City. She is originally from Miami, FL and had the great fortune of being raised by the sassiest, spunkiest, wisest, most hysterical Honduran woman in the world. Victoria’s mother, Bélgica, is 60-years-old, resides in Little Havana (Miami) and enjoys a good margarita accompanied by a heartrending ranchera. Victoria blogs about her mom’s funny and wise sayings on, “In My Mother’s Words.”