More Than A Mother

Jeremy
4749 days ago.

I consider myself to come from a long line of strong women. 

My Grandma, age 78, bore six children by way of natural childbirth between the years 1954 and 1969.  She was widowed at the young age of 62, as my Grandpa died of a heart attack on their family room floor.  And in the summer of 2009, she buried her oldest son, age 52, after he lost a very short battle with brain cancer.  Last May she was diagnosed with Multiple Myloma, a form of bone cancer.  She has since beat it, and is a cancer survivor.  Today she lays in a hospital bed, has very limited mobility, and is unable to care for herself.  She can feed herself, but that’s about it.  She has to be helped to a chair so someone can change her sheets several times a day, and sometimes this can be a very dirty task.  The one thing my Grandma always dreaded about getting old was being put in a nursing home.

My mother, whose age I won’t reveal, is the oldest of six.  She bore 5 children between the years 1977 and 1989 also by way of natural childbirth.  When she was 41, she lost her father to a heart attack and, in the summer of 2009, buried her younger brother after his short battle with brain cancer.  Today my mom gives ’round the clock care to the elderly.  Well, not the elderly…an elderly.   A long, long time ago, my mom made my grandma a promise.  She promised her she would never put her in a nursing home.  And my mom has made good on that promise.  While her current occupation as caregiver doesn’t allow her to bask in her role of ‘daughter’ very often, she faithfully cares for and tends to all Grandma’s needs.

In Proverbs 31: 10-31 it talks about the wife of noble charcter.  So many of those verses remind me of my mom.  Verse 15 says, “She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family”.  Verse 20 says, “She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.”  Verses 25 and 26 say, “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.  She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.”  Verses 28 and 29 get to me the most.  “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.'”

‘You surpass them all’ is exactly the way I feel about my mom.  The two things in life that I am most passionate about are living my life through the Christian walk of faith and my family.  There is nothing I want more out of life than to be a memorable example to my son and a wife of noble character.  And when my life is over and I have to give an account for my short time here on earth, I hope to hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

I know that no one is perfect.  And I know my mom has made her fair share of mistakes.  But I consider them ‘perfect mistakes’ because without them, I wouldn’t have the mom I have now.  And without who she is, I wouldn’t be the wife and mother I am today.

 

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