That last few months have zapped my
stamina level between playing roulette with new medications and surgery but sure
as Spring is here, I am on the mend. I can't take credit for the following
tribute to moms but did so want to share it with all of you out there. For June
I promise you dads out there that I will write a fitting tribute of my own.
Joy be with you always,
Carolyn
An Early Tribute To Mom
This is for all the mothers who have sat up all
night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up barf laced with Oscar
Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's OK honey, Mommy's here." Who
walk around the house all night with their babies when they keep crying and
won't stop. This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in
their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse. For all
the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And
all the mothers who DON'T. This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies
they'll never see. And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes.
This is for all the mothers who froze their buns
off on metal bleachers at football or soccer games Friday night instead of
watching from cars, so that when their kids asked, "Did you see me?"
they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the
world," and mean it. This is for all the mothers who yell at their
kids in the grocery store and swat them
in despair when they stomp their feet like a tired 2-year old who
wants ice cream before dinner. This is for all the mothers who sat down
with their children and explained all about making babies. And for
all the mothers who wanted to but just couldn't. For all the mothers who
read "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then read it
again. "Just one more time." This is for all the mothers who taught their
children to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for
all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead. This is for all the mothers
who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.
This is for all mothers whose heads turn automatically when a little voice
calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own off spring
are at home. This is for all the mothers who sent their kids to
school with stomach aches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got
there, only
to get calls from the school nurse an hour later asking them to
please pick them up. Right away. This is for mothers whose children
have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them. For all
the mothers who bite their lips sometimes until they bleed - when their 14
year olds dye their hair green. What makes a good Mother anyway? Is it
patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook
dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time? Or is it
heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter
disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very
first time? The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib
at 2 A.M. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby? The need to
flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a fire,
a car accident, a child dying? For all the mothers of the victims of all
these school shootings, and the mothers of those who did the
shooting. For the mothers of the survivors, and the
mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who
just came home from school, safely. This is for mothers who put pinwheels and
teddy bears on their children's graves. This is for young mothers stumbling
through diaper changes and sleep deprivation. And mature mothers learning
to let go. For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers. Single
mothers and married mothers. Mothers with money, mothers without. This is
for you all. So hang in there. Please pass along to all the Moms in your
life. "Home is what catches you when you fall - and we all fall."
A little bit about me that people do not know is that I am involved in making
baby burial clothes for premature infants that are one and two pounds. Its a
group that gets together once a month but a few of us get together on Friday
night. The other two ladies crochet so they make blankets and booties and I sew
the outfits. The need is for about 50 outfits a month. Having a stillborn son
many years ago this activity makes me feel like I am helping other families in
their time of grief and at the same time doing something in memory of my son.
