Thank You To My Mom
/Searching for the woman you never truly knew
A photo of Nicole Jacot von Kaenel, Camille's mother, shared by her Ecuadorian friends to Camille in Quito. Unknown location and date - most likely Switzerland. (Courtesy Camille von Kaenel)
It wasn't until after her mother died that Camille von Kaenel realized just how little she knew about her. The mother she knew -- or thought she knew -- was a stereotypical homemaker, a mom who drove her kids to soccer games and occupied her free time with cooking shows.
But after her untimely death, Camille would learn about a very different side to her mother. She would come to meet a woman she had never known — and through that process, she gained a whole new admiration for the parent she had lost.
On this episode, Camille shares her story. It's a story that takes us from the Swiss Alps to a volcano in Ecuador. And it shows us just how much we can learn about -- and gain from -- our loved ones, even in their absence.
“What was her childhood like? Why had she decided to become a mother? Was she happy? ... Those questions about my mom continued to haunt me.”
