It was one of those mornings where I didn’t want to go to school. I don’t recall if it was because of bullying, an exam, or that I didn’t want to spend all day sitting in a classroom. I walked into the kitchen where Mom was preparing our breakfast and told her I didn’t feel like going to school that day.
She reacted in a typical mother manner. She felt my forehead for a fever, looked in my mouth for any redness and asked if my stomach hurt. When all three attempts proved negative responses, she didn’t press me about why I didn’t want to go to school. Instead, she offered me a story from her schoolgirl days.
This woman that we thought could do no wrong was human growing up. She told me a story of a day she didn’t want to go to school and faked an illness to stay home. Her mother allowed her to do so. It was a few hours after school had started that Mom remembered the class was having a party that day. She told her mom that she was feeling better and now wished to go to school. Her mom insisted she stay home in case the “illness” returned.
She missed the party.
I realized, even at my young age, the lesson of being honest and carrying out one’s responsibilities. While there wasn’t a party the day I wished to miss, I don’t recall it being a bad day at all.
The story still pops into my mind whenever I have the temptation to skip a day at work or another commitment. I learned from Mom that showing up was important. There’s no telling how many blessings I would have missed in life if I had skipped a day in school, a service at church, or a day of work.
Thanks, Mom!
Another time Mom told me about a discussion that took place in her Sunday school class. Some ladies who were mothers of daughters were talking about how easy Mom had it in raising sons. This discussion took place despite those ladies knowing my brothers and me and how much difficulty we can create in one’s life. The topic went to how Mom’s three sons can’t come home pregnant from a Friday night outing. “They can’t, that’s true,” Mom said, “but, they can come home responsible, and they’ll be in just as much trouble with just as much responsibility for the baby.”
Mom defeated the whole idea of boys sowing their wild oats in that story. Mom made sure I heard this story so there would be no question as to how I should play out the morality in my life. Despite times in my life where I ignored the advice from this story, Mom taught me about the wonders of unconditional forgiveness.
Thanks, Mom!
The stories I remember most about growing up with the lady I call Mom are not about the significant aspects of life. Mom never performed major surgery on me, yet I had thousands of “kisses to make it better.” I felt the expectation from her and Dad to behave, do well in school, and finish college. Moms are there for the crucial decisions and aspects of life, but they do most of their work in the regular and routine activities of every day.
Moms get up and make sure we get up. Moms fix breakfast or make sure we have the materials and the lessons to create it ourselves. Moms stay at home and work to make life better for us, or they also work outside the home for the same purpose. Moms make us do our homework, finish our meals with threats of sending our food to starving children in countries around the world and kiss us goodnight. Moms come running into our rooms when we cry out in the night using seventeen syllables to get the word, Mom, out of our mouths (Mawwwwwwwwwwwwwwm) to tend to our fears, nightmares, or need of another glass of water.
Mostly, moms pray for us. I tease people that my mom prays for God to put people in my life that can keep me humble. I assume it’s her prayer because I get a lot of people in that category. If we could open up a mother’s heart, we would find an overflow of love and a river of compassionate concern. A mother’s active prayer life is what directs the love and the compassion to flow. Her ultimate desire is for her offspring to be happy and well.
Thanks, Mom!
I know we only give one holiday a year to recognize the 24/7/365 work of a mother. So, on this day, I post this as a reminder for us to celebrate Mother’s Day as a spirit of gratitude each of those 365 days. Except for Leap Year. We’ll celebrate 366 days every fourth year!
Happy Mother’s Day!