There is no better gift for Mother's Day than taking the lessons and traits the mother in your life taught you and applying them to your every day life. Flowers are great, but listening is better.Â
This week, Brian Flores shared the priceless lessons he's learned simply by being raised by his mom, Maria.Â
In an ESPN story from earlier this offseason, Brian talked about how his mother kept him and his four brothers in line living in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brownsville. With high rates of crime, poverty and unemployment, Brownsville was a tough place to grow up. Though Brian loved his community in spite of its reputation, Maria still found ways to protect her sons from falling in with the wrong crowd.Â
And, as it turns out, Maria taught Brian what true strength looks like.Â
During media availability with coaches on Friday afternoon, Brian was asked what lessons he learned from his mother, and the first thing that came to mind was toughness.
"My mother's the toughest person I know. She's actually battling cancer now, and she's just… she's just... it's like it doesn't faze her at all," Brian said. "She just gets up every day and tries to – she's beating it. She says, 'I'm beating this. This is a non-issue.'"Â
Despite her diagnosis, Maria maintains her tough-as-nails demeanor that influenced Brian throughout his life, he said.Â
"She's as tough as they come. That's one thing I feel I've taken from her that's helped me in all walks of life: personally, professionally. I'm soft on my kids, [but] she wasn't soft on me," he said with a laugh.Â
Being strong and hopeful in the face of adversity is not easy, but when you have someone leading by example like Brian does, it becomes second nature.Â
