Another Mother's Day encourages me to reflect on being a
mother. Of all of the human experiences I cannot think of another thing more
gratifying or more instinctive than motherhood. Oh, I am not ignoring the
difficulties, the hardships, the frustrations. I include those in my
thoughts of the overall undertaking of raising an infant to adulthood, of
bringing life and sustaining life. Most
of us glorify and sweep the rest under the rug when we extol the virtues of
Motherhood. Nope. I am not going to ignore that part of it. There is plenty of stuff that just plain
sucks: those times when you are not feeling well and then the kids get sick and
you have to drag yourself out of bed to take care of them too. The teenage years are hardly a walk in the
park: the discipline, the yelling, rebelling.
UGH! But the light at the end of
the tunnel is always there, and oh how we cry when we see our little ones grow
up and leave the nest! When we no longer
have babies, we substitute puppies and kittens; the urge for motherhood, for
nurturing is so strong within us. We
turn to mush around babies of any kind.
Motherhood is strong within us even when we are unrelated. A child's tears -- any child's tears brings
that maternal response. We want to care,
to assist, to assuage the hurt. Oh
mothers! How we are programmed from
birth to death.
We females are indeed amazing. Okay, maybe there are a few bad apples but
overall we are to be congratulated on getting it right. (Oh, and I pay no attention to the deadbeats on shows
like Doctor Phil. Honestly I have no
idea where he finds them). All in all we
are a marvelous sorority of caring, loving individuals.
So, on Mother's Day allow me to brag a little. I raised two wonderful adults. I am truly happy with the results even if
neither of them listened to me about becoming multi-millionaires so that they
could support me in my old age. No. I feel satisfied with the end product: they
have not disappointed. They write beautiful
sentiments on cards that make me blubber like an idiot, they make me laugh,
they do nice things that surprise and thrill me. I feel their gratitude and it warms me
through and through. When they ask me to
make a "Mommy Salad" I know that they are nostalgic for my cooking,
when they sit around and make fun of the way I do something I know that their
teasing is loving. It is like I used to
be with my mother. I can't do it now of
course because she is old and has Alzheimer's.
Now, I have only the memories of who she used to be and the gratitude I
have for what she did to raise me -- those sacrifices she made, the time she
devoted, and the care she took. I see it
now, the circle of life...child to mother to childlike mother. I am glad that I was able to show her my
gratitude while she still understood.
Happy Mother's Day, Mom. Happy
Mother's Day Me. Happy Mother's Day
Children. Happy Mother's Day All!
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