[Marie]

Being younger than a lot of people in here, I'll speak on what I mean when I say those words. Maybe that can help you to interpret how you should receive them. My godmother is my mentor and my role model (along w/my mom). Therefore, it is often that I say that I want to emmulate her or be just like her. However, I don't really mean to the letter. I don't want her exact job, or her exact husband, or her exact life even. It is more so the completed package. I see her as very well put together. She is successful professionally, highly spiritual, a loving mother, and an all around great person. Furthermore, she is happy w/herself, who she has become, and what she has accomplished. Now she isn't perfect. She is divorced, and she has suffered hardships just like any other struggling black woman. Obviously these are not hardships that I too want to suffer. However, I do want to have the sense of satisfaction and confidence that I see in her. When I say those words, I'm talking more about her inner peace and the joy she brings to everyone who is around her. That is what I want to achieve. So maybe a person isn't saying that they want to travel your exact route, but instead they want to end up in a similar destination (as far as the person you are, not the life that you live).
Just a thought,
Marie