“I realized when you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know.”
-Mitch Albom
Yesterday morning I was in the bathroom washing my hands and I had this weird, surprisingly emotional moment of realizing how much I appreciate my mother in numerous ways I don’t frequently recognize. Believe it or not, this moment occurred completely apart from the fact that today is Mother’s Day.
I was thinking of how I should follow up with one of my squad mates who got really sick a few days ago and I wanted to make sure he was taking his antibiotics. I was immediately struck with the realization that this might be a little overbearing of me and that I should trust that he is a capable adult, not in need of someone to mother him.
And out of nowhere, I had a sudden memory of how my mom took care of me when I was sick as a little girl. I could picture her getting up late in the night to check my temperature and make sure I had Gatorade, and crushing my pills up in a bite of grape yogurt so I could swallow them, and laying her cool, comforting hands on my hot forehead, and murmuring “I hate it when my baby is sick.”
We have these moments throughout life I think, where an intensity of someone’s love seems to send us careening back in time and more deeply appreciating them now than we ever did then.
My mother, with the way she cared for and raised my brother, sister, and I, becomes more and more of a hero to me as I grow up.
When my parents decided to separate when I was very young, she became a single mother of three. Looking back on how she cared for us, day in and day out, I am beginning to think she may have been super human during those years.
Getting herself off to work and three children on the bus to school every day sounds like enough of a task in and of itself, but that was only the start of the day.
She approached the physically and emotionally demanding job of public health nursing with purpose and passion, and ultimately inspired me to become a nurse myself. Hearing the way she spoke of her patients was only one of the many glimpses of her heart and love for Jesus.
After a full of day of work that would wear out anyone, she then rushed home to make sure all of her children were able to have every opportunity to be well rounded through extra activities. She carted my brother to and from baseball practice, my sister to and from ballet and piano, and me to anything from softball to basketball to piano to gymnastics.
A hot, home cooked dinner was on the table nearly every night, homework help was offered, and we always felt confident and prepared for the next day. I can even remember my mom feeling apologetic about “cereal nights” even though they were a treat to me because they were so rare.
And on top of all of that, there was no shortage of hugs and kisses, of encouragement in schoolwork and sports, and healthy discipline when we got out of line.
Mama, how did you do it?
We could count on you to be beaming and clapping in the stands, and I can still picture you jumping up from your lawn chair when I struck someone out or hit a triple.
On an income that had to stretch pretty thin, you disciplined your budgeting so well that you were still able to take the four of us to the beach every summer. Some of my favorite childhood memories were born out of those weeks of sandcastles and aloe vera gel and pool tricks and hushpuppies and Braves games and listening to the Oldies.
You so rarely bought anything for yourself that I can vividly remember being caught off guard on the few occasions when you were wearing something I had never seen. It seemed that every hard-earned dime went to enriching your children’s lives.
Despite being a gentle and kind woman, I knew that “mama bear” would come out any time someone threatened one of your kids, and I distinctly remember you going to bat for us any time coaches or teachers caused undeserved pain or stress.
You taught me more about selfless love than any third world missionary or pastor ever could, and have accomplished the rare task of becoming both a best friend and a mentor to your children.
Seeing you with Caden has again reminded me of how much sweeter my transition into motherhood will be one day as I know I will have you to lean on for support and advice. They say that your relationship with your mother goes that much deeper once you have children of your own, and I look forward to it already.
My recent itch to start a family soon comes from seeing the true love of a mother and how it is honestly one of the most sincere ways of demonstrating the love of Christ.
I love and miss you dearly on this Mother’s Day and hope you know how much I value you for endless reasons! I will see you in less than a month for a couple days on that same coast where those beach memories were born!
Happy Mother’s day to the best mama I could have ever asked for!
My mother beaming down at her first grandchild, Caden.
