Axios Finish Line: What did you learn from mom?

What Erica learned: Don’t just say — do.

• It’s not typical in Nepal (where my parents emigrated from) to talk about your feelings. But my mom, Muna Joshi, always shows us how much she loves us through acts of kindness that speak volumes.
• She still puts out fresh fruit for me when I visit. And if I mention I’ve been shopping for something like a rice cooker or a raincoat, she sends me home with hers on the spot. I learned there are a million ways to constantly tell people you love and appreciate them.

What Mike learned: It’s not about you.

• My mother — Barbara Allen, who had four kids in four years, and now lives in Oregon — was thrifty. She went years without a new dress. But she’d always reach for the check when getting lunch with someone. "I'll treat," she'd say.
• We never had a big discussion about either trait — yet both of them are now me to a T, as she puts it. I watched, listened and learned. Good or bad, the kids in our life are doing the same.

What Jim learned: True, unconditional love.

• I can say this without exaggeration: There has never been one second in my life that my mother, Joan VandeHei, has shown anything other than absolute, unshakable love, whether I was getting tossed in jail for protesting the drinking age or ringing up miserable grades.
• This is the reason I am an entrepreneur today: Unconditional love gave me the self-confidence to take risks, knowing there’s something great to fall back on if I flop. It also made me a better dad. 

Editor's note: This story originally published on May 5.

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