Getting told today that I would make a great mother (figure) and that I have a very motherly way of behaving at times which is both recognizable and helpful is a kind of weird pleasantness/appreciation I didn't really expect.
Aside from teasing or jokes or goofs: I do hope in the coming years I can be something like a mother; if not that, a gentle set of words to assuage and listen, to the kinds of people like me who lacked that kindness/openness and safety growing up. That I can be the kind, warming, gentle touch that they might never have had.