Mother's Day...
"She looks well to the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:
'Many daughters have done nobly,
But you excel them all.'"
--Proverbs 31:27-29
Yes folks, it is the Day that commemorates the countless immeasurable sacrifices that your mother made to make your life better and even possible. My mother, for example, has suffered from multiple sclerosis for most of my life, but has still raised 6 children. Before I was born, my mother was a police officer and served in College Station. She left that job when she became pregnant with me and not long after that, she decided that she would stay home to raise and school me. I do not know how badly her MS affected her when I was born, but I do know that it has become worse with each child. The disorder causes her immune system to attack her own nervous system and no one knows why. This disorder can manifest itself in a variety of ways, but my mother, in particular, experiences extreme fatigue and increasing difficulty walking, and the sysmptoms are exaserbated by heat and stress. Living in central Texas and having boys as her first 3 children certainly neither kept her out of the heat nor calmed her nerves. Despite this obstacle, my mother has 6 children, of whom I am the oldest, and has homeschooled all of us at one time as well as fostering 3 additional children. She is a licensed counselor and regularly provides services to interview families about their suitability to adopt or foster a particular child. She also has quite a talent for editing and has taught me all I know about the technical aspects of writing and grammar.
My mother's favorite things to teach us were patriotism; doing the right thing even when it was hard; doing a hard (strictly utilitarian) thing simply so that we could say we did; not to watch too much TV; how to treat girls; to do what must be done, whether it's your job or not, even if you weren't told to, even if it's hard; and that you shouldn't be rewarded for doing what you're expected to do.
She always encouraged me to do what I needed to do, but she never praised us for doing what was expected of us. She always sought to protects us, but when we resisted her protection (not wearing shoes outside) she was a firm believer in letting us learn from our own mistakes (I still haven't lost my toes yet ;-P ). I remember her staying up late to clean up the kitchen, even when she could hardly walk. The only time that she went to bed before any of us, was when I finally got a job and began to work until 2 in the morning. I will always think of my mother when I eat dark chocolate, it is the peace offering that we children would hoard for the time when we knew our end was surely near and that it would be at the retrobution of our dreaded and beloved mother. It never saved us from any consequence and we usually thought better than to insult our judge with a bribe, but when the time for offering came, it was usually after the judgement had been meted out and we needed to make ammends.
I will never forget the look of admiration on my mother's face when I graduated from Marine Corps Boot Camp in October of 2003. The only other time that I have seen such admiration on her face is when she told me about how my younger brother had drunk an entire can of soda in less than a minute and then belched for 24 solid seconds. I can't remember any other time that she approved of such crude behavior. I'm sorry I missed it, Tim, it must have been good.
I think that my mother always did wish that she could have had nicer things and a better place to live, but I know that she gladly set that aside for the sake of her children. The thing that infuriated me the most about my mother, and still will the next time it happens, is what she wants for Christmas and her birthday. "Mom," I would say when the time came around. "What do you want me to get you?" And she would invariably give the same frustratingly irritating answer: "Obedient children." ARRRRGGGHHH!! Lowes and Home Depot are fresh out of those, Mom! Gosh, could you ask for the moon or something? How am I supposed to get you obedient children? I'm not even married yet! We were certainly the bane of her existance; we were her greatest pain and her pride and joy. I know that for every time that she wanted to snatch us bald-headed and string us up by our toenails, for every time that she stayed up at night praying that we would survive her wrath for another week, there were a hundred times that she thanked God for her children and gave something up so that we could have a better life. I hope that one day, when she has finished her life-long career of home-making, I can take care of her as well as she has taken care of me.
I love you, Momma.
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:
'Many daughters have done nobly,
But you excel them all.'"
--Proverbs 31:27-29
Yes folks, it is the Day that commemorates the countless immeasurable sacrifices that your mother made to make your life better and even possible. My mother, for example, has suffered from multiple sclerosis for most of my life, but has still raised 6 children. Before I was born, my mother was a police officer and served in College Station. She left that job when she became pregnant with me and not long after that, she decided that she would stay home to raise and school me. I do not know how badly her MS affected her when I was born, but I do know that it has become worse with each child. The disorder causes her immune system to attack her own nervous system and no one knows why. This disorder can manifest itself in a variety of ways, but my mother, in particular, experiences extreme fatigue and increasing difficulty walking, and the sysmptoms are exaserbated by heat and stress. Living in central Texas and having boys as her first 3 children certainly neither kept her out of the heat nor calmed her nerves. Despite this obstacle, my mother has 6 children, of whom I am the oldest, and has homeschooled all of us at one time as well as fostering 3 additional children. She is a licensed counselor and regularly provides services to interview families about their suitability to adopt or foster a particular child. She also has quite a talent for editing and has taught me all I know about the technical aspects of writing and grammar.
My mother's favorite things to teach us were patriotism; doing the right thing even when it was hard; doing a hard (strictly utilitarian) thing simply so that we could say we did; not to watch too much TV; how to treat girls; to do what must be done, whether it's your job or not, even if you weren't told to, even if it's hard; and that you shouldn't be rewarded for doing what you're expected to do.
She always encouraged me to do what I needed to do, but she never praised us for doing what was expected of us. She always sought to protects us, but when we resisted her protection (not wearing shoes outside) she was a firm believer in letting us learn from our own mistakes (I still haven't lost my toes yet ;-P ). I remember her staying up late to clean up the kitchen, even when she could hardly walk. The only time that she went to bed before any of us, was when I finally got a job and began to work until 2 in the morning. I will always think of my mother when I eat dark chocolate, it is the peace offering that we children would hoard for the time when we knew our end was surely near and that it would be at the retrobution of our dreaded and beloved mother. It never saved us from any consequence and we usually thought better than to insult our judge with a bribe, but when the time for offering came, it was usually after the judgement had been meted out and we needed to make ammends.
I will never forget the look of admiration on my mother's face when I graduated from Marine Corps Boot Camp in October of 2003. The only other time that I have seen such admiration on her face is when she told me about how my younger brother had drunk an entire can of soda in less than a minute and then belched for 24 solid seconds. I can't remember any other time that she approved of such crude behavior. I'm sorry I missed it, Tim, it must have been good.
I think that my mother always did wish that she could have had nicer things and a better place to live, but I know that she gladly set that aside for the sake of her children. The thing that infuriated me the most about my mother, and still will the next time it happens, is what she wants for Christmas and her birthday. "Mom," I would say when the time came around. "What do you want me to get you?" And she would invariably give the same frustratingly irritating answer: "Obedient children." ARRRRGGGHHH!! Lowes and Home Depot are fresh out of those, Mom! Gosh, could you ask for the moon or something? How am I supposed to get you obedient children? I'm not even married yet! We were certainly the bane of her existance; we were her greatest pain and her pride and joy. I know that for every time that she wanted to snatch us bald-headed and string us up by our toenails, for every time that she stayed up at night praying that we would survive her wrath for another week, there were a hundred times that she thanked God for her children and gave something up so that we could have a better life. I hope that one day, when she has finished her life-long career of home-making, I can take care of her as well as she has taken care of me.
I love you, Momma.
posted by Matt at 21:53
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