Ep 68: My Mom's Journey, 75, A Walk in My Shoes

In this special episode, we’re celebrating my mom’s 75th birthday by sharing her incredible story. My mom has lived through challenges, immigration, and poverty, yet her journey is one of resilience, faith, and gratitude. Hear a heartfelt recording of her sharing her story—one that reminds us all how understanding our family’s past helps us appreciate our own story even more.

Transcript: Welcome back to The Value of Wrinkles. That right there was my girl Maddie introducing today’s episodes. It has been a while since I released a podcast episode. Look out for other episodes, but today I’m bringing you a special episode in honor of my mom’s 75^th birthday. Today, I’m sharing my mom’s story. I think you’ll be encouraged. If you know my mom, you’ll be very encouraged and for me, it’s special because ultimately my mom’s story is part of my story.

But before we jump into all the good stuff, a quick word about what I’ve been working on– The Grandkid Investigator Kit!

So just last week, I got an email from a mom who bought both the physical Grandkid Investigator box and my digital Grandkid Investigator Kit as a holiday gift.

Hi Isabel, she wrote, I purchased your GrandKid Investigator Kit in December as a gift for my parents and in-laws to do with my daughter.  I just wanted to give you a bit of feedback, that we all love it!  My daughter is having better conversations with her grandparents than she’s ever had, and they are clearly loving chatting and sharing their lives with her.  She does the missions both in-person with one set of grandparents, and over zoom with the other grandparents, and it’s working great both ways.  I wanted to let you know that your product is such a beautiful gift.  I also wanted to ask you – do you mind if I share it, for example in a Facebook Mom’s group?  I wasn’t sure if you mind potentially getting a lot of requests for it.”

That’s exactly why I want everyone to get the Grandkid Investigator Kit for family. Because it’s super easy for grandparents or parents to use with the kids. And it helps your kids get to know their grandparents. Grandparents love being asked questions and love having the chance to share more about themselves. My mom loved it and it definitely helped my kids learn more about her.

In fact, here’s a message from my two boys –

Last year my mom had the chance to her story at a Asian American event held at her retirement community. She’s really passionate about sharing her story and what’s she’s been through and really has been wanting to find a way to share it with others. Luckily, her 10 minutes sharing at this event was recorded. And Luckily, I recorded it too.

Which is really special bc I want my kids to know what their grandma has gone through. Frankily I need to know too. Hearing another person’s story helps appreciate them more.  It helps us understand why they are the way they are.

So listen in and see how there’s hope even in the hardest of situations.

Mom – thanks for letting me share your story and for wanting to use it to encourage and help others. And happy birthday. You are authentic, adventurous and I’m honored to get share your story with others.

If you know someone who had a rough upbringing, was an immigrant and had to adjust to a new place, new life, grew up in poverty, still is in poverty and especially if you know an Asian American who just feels like life is hard, share this episode please.. That day my mom shared her story, I realized that hearing her story helps me appreciate my story more too. I also understand now that when my mom looks at my life and when she sees me raising my kids, striving to be a good wife, striving to be a good friend and sister, when she sees me using the gifts God’s given me, it is really heartwarming to her. It’s a reminder of how much God has done in her life. Gives her gratitude. 

If todays’ story encouraged you, would you share it? If you want to share a message with my mom, feel free to email me at thevalueofwrinklesatgmail.com or find me on Instagram.

I’m hoping to start podcasting more after a one year break. My goal is to get sponsors so that I can encourage others more and be able to sustain my business/ministry.