With every passing year, it’s amazing there are still so many things that I learn about life. There are so many things that we take for granted, or have never paid much mind to, especially as children, teens, and young adults. Thanks to these realizations that come with age and personal growth, I now have a greater appreciation for, and am starting to have a far better understanding of certain things and people.
Take for instance, the job that a mother has. This can be rewarding, joyous, fulfilling, and outright amazing, at times. But on the flip side of this same coin, the Job of motherhood can also be wrought with pain, stress, fear, and sometimes feel like one of the most thankless and arduous endeavors imaginable. I can’t speak for everyone in this world, but some of us do take what our mothers do for us for granted, especially when we’re young. Mothers sacrifice and endure so much for us every day of our lives. They are the women who give us life, our protectors, our caregivers, our teachers, and so much more, and they deserve to be recognized for all that they are to us. Because a mother’s Job is far from easy.
I’ll be the first to admit that I put my mother through a lot while I was growing up. Even now, as I sit in a prison cell, my mother is handling a great deal for me, as I will always be her child. As the second eldest child, and oldest boy, I had an obligation to help my mother by being a good role model for my younger brothers. a good son, especially since my mother was raising four of us on her own. But I failed regularly at fulfilling this unwritten obligation, time and time again. And yet, her love never waivers. That’s the love a mother has for her children and family in any scenario on any given day. A mother’s job, even in a two-parent home is difficult, but as a single mother, and the sole breadwinner of multiple children, can you even imagine how hard this task becomes? Now throw in four rambunctious and hyperactive kids and the mother’s job not only becomes a greater challenge. My mother always tried to do everything that she felt she needed to do to ensure we never were without. My siblings and I were far from angels and one day I asked her, “How did you do it?” Her reply was: “I just do.”
My realizations about motherhood really didn’t’ start to sink in until I began to see some of the same parallels between what my wife deals with on a daily basis, and what my mother had to do when my siblings and I were growing up. This is not to say that individual epiphanies didn’t pop into my head prior to these realizations. However, just talking to my wife about all her day-to-day tasks and struggles, on top of what’s expected of her at work and knowing the limitless effort, sacrifice, and willingness to do everything and anything she can for our family really put everything into perspective. The mothers of this world are the real-life unsung heroes, whose superpowers are love and devotion, and whose lives should be truly cherished and celebrated always.
I thank the Creator every day for the continued love and support my mother has blessed me with over all these years. I am equally grateful that I’ve been blessed with a wife whose inner strength and love as a mother knows no bounds when it comes to our family. It’s a shame that we mainly only celebrate these special women only once a year on Mother’s Day, when everything that they do for us, sacrifice for us, and demonstrate to us over our lifetimes, deserves to be recognized and appreciated each and every day. They should always know just how much they mean to us.
So on this Mother’s Day, I’d just like to say thank you to all of the mothers of this world. Thank you to all those who helped teach us a lot of life’s lessons, like what unconditional love truly is. To all those who sacrificed sleep, when they had to be at work early the next day and made sure we had the right medicine when we were sick. To those who worked long hours, not just at their nine to five jobs, tirelessly, and sometimes seemingly endlessly, only to come home to cook dinner for us. To the ones who made the time to cheer us on at our athletic events, talent shows, and recitals. To the ones who let us know they’ll always stand by us, through actions without saying a word, even when we haven’t been, or weren’t, at our best. For the ones who travel distances to come see us for a couple of hours, to make sure we know someone loves us. And to the ones who take our calls no matter what may be going on, just to ensure we have a loving voice to comfort us, and someone we’ll always be able to have a meaningful conversation with. Thank you for all of those things, and the multitude of other things only a mother can, and will do for their children and their families.
Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, cousins, and great friends. Mothers who are the real unsung heroes of the world.
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