A Mother's Courage

Dear Mom,

I'm sorry that I don't call you nearly enough. I could blame it on being busy with work and my wife, kids and grandkids...and that would certainly qualify me as being busy. But even though I don't always call, I never stop thinking about you. Every day things happen that remind me of you and all things you taught me as I was growing up. And every day I'm reminded of the sacrifices you made so I could have what I needed and hopefully turn out right.

Looking back its easy to see that life was really hard for you at times. With Dad being in the Marine Corps, it meant you had to uproot our family every 12 months and move to a new location, find a new place to live, find new schools for your kids, make new friends, etc. That couldn't have been easy. And then they would send Dad overseas for a year or two at a time, leaving you alone to take care of two small kids, a dog and all the bills. Through all of those hard times though, I never remember you complaining, ever, not even once.

In fact, there was one incident when Dad was overseas that pretty much says it all. You got my sister and I dressed up one Sunday morning, in our only nice clothes, so the three of us could go to church. On the way there you saw two young boys fighting on a street corner and pulled the car over immediately. The bigger kid was sitting on top, punching the smaller boy in the face. It was awful but you reacted swiftly, running straight at them and knocking the bigger kid over, yelling at him to stop! Turns out there was a man, sitting in his car at the curb, watching the whole thing. He yells at you to stay out of it. You yell right back, "What's the matter with you? Why didn't you stop them?" I don't remember the exact words but he said something like, "My kid needs to learn how to defend himself", and you got right back in his face and told him he needed to learn how to be a better father!

Seeing you race to defend a complete stranger from harm, made me realize something. Even though Dad wasn't there, we had nothing to fear...because Mom could handle anything!

 

Maybe the hardest thing you had to handle was when you and Dad moved to San Francisco. I asked you if I could stay behind and live on my own at only 17... and you said yes. You let me leave home at a very young age and I know that must have been really hard on you. I saw your tears as I drove away, but you had the courage to let me go. Maybe you knew then you had done a good job of raising me. I didn't know it then...but I certainly know it now!

Thank you Mom....and Happy Mother's Day!

 

 

Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.

~ Anonymous