Another Mother's Day weekend is upon us. I am grateful to God for my own mama...and the other women who've all had hands in shaping me. There seem to be so many of them...maybe I needed a lot of fine tuning; that's why God put so many of these women in my life! Let me tell you about some of them and before we get started, you might want to grab a tissue or two.
Raise your glass....TO THE MOTHER HOOD! Long may it reign!
- My mama's name is Sharon. She raised Sister A and I as a single parent. She made tough choices ...always trying to to what was right for us. There were some TOUGH years. Just how tough? One week, we might wash our hair with dish soap...the next week, the dishes might be washed with shampoo. She taught me that anything worth having is worth working for...working HARD! She lived out her faith in front of me. She didn't just tell me that God would provide, she lived that...lived in expectation of the good things and provisions God had for us. She proved that faith can move mountains...I've seen it! She is determined...this world and its troubles will not steal her joy. She gave up so much in her life for me...I pray that she can see the fruits of her sacrifices in my life.
- My Mom Jean...she married Daddy during my middle school years...twenty six or so years ago. She has loved me unconditionally and has never treated me as "her husband's daughter. My kids are her grandkids...she really does love them as much as the grandchildren given to her by her biological children. She's like Mama in many ways...she works hard and always tries her best at anything she tries...she's kind and has faith that can slay the giants! There is a gentle quietness about her...I know many women who posses this and it mystifies me. I find myself longing for that quality but when I try to imitate that, it ends up feeling like I've got on someone else's shoes. Not who I am...doesn't fit. But it fits her.
- My MILove...been a part of my life since 1987. We have the benefit of being great friends. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE my own Mama and we have a great relationship, but she's Mama...I can have all the friends in the world, but only one Mama. MILove has never crowded my relationship with her son...she's never inserted herself into private parts of our life...she accepted me from the get go. She's told me on more than one occasion that if her son loved me enough to want to marry me, that was good enough for her. She's also told me that she couldn't have picked him a better wife. That's rather humbling, folks! From her, I watched what it means to "love, honor and cherish...in sickness and in health...'til death do us part." She cared for FILove with such diligence and never gave up. I know that when she made the decision to let him go...it was the hardest thing she's ever had to do. I also know that it was a tremendous act of love...to end his suffering and let him slip into the arms of Jesus. I've been so proud of her...still so very much in love with him...but realizing that life still holds so much for her.
- My Granny Wood....Mama's mama. She helped raise us. Granny was a real character! She could bang it up in the kitchen....chicken-n-dumplings, cornbread dressing, Texas sheet cake, chocolate fried pies....YUM! She sewed very well...she made my wedding gown and many of my dresses throughout my childhood. She could grown anything in her garden. She loved roses. She also loved to get on the phone with her sister, my great Aunt Jewell and GOSSIP! Oh, yes she did! They'd talk about members of the extended family, folks at church, people from work. I don't believe there was ever anything malicious to their tattling conversations, but they did love to dish! Granny was good at making do with what she had. She was a TREMENDOUS woman of faith. I have many memories of coming into the kitchen in the early morning and finding her at the table...coffee cup (she drank it black...ICK) and Bible. I heard her pray in Sunday School one time and it blew me away. She took care of Papa after his strokes until she got sick herself. The last time I saw her was in August 2002...she died two months later. We came to see her because Mama had told us it wouldn't be long. She'd never seen Y2. He was quite the chunky monkey and she had to sit down to hold him. She sat with him on her knee...and he was quite content to be there...she admired his dark, curly hair and pronounced him to be a "fine, fine baby!" When she died, a piece of my heart went to Heaven.
- Hester the Great...she's Mr. Snarks maternal grandmother. Mamaw, to him. HTG to the Ys. Y1 was watching "Little Bill" on Nickelodeon...anyone remember that show? Little Bill's great grandmother lived with his family and he called her "Alice the Great." Y1 asked if he had an "Alice the Great" and I told him he didn't, but that he had a "Hester the Great." It was a done deal. And it suits her....I've often said that if you look close enough, when she turns a corner, you'll see the tails of her cape! She ADORES my children...she adores her grandchildren...all of them grown, now. She is absolutely one of the most interesting, creative, free spirited people I have ever met. Y2 is from her bloodline and that is the gospel truth! She has, even to this day, a Pied Piper hold over my boyos. She's done some adventurous things in her life...she turned over many stones and walked down many roads less taken. In the last year or so, she's slowed down...is beginning to act like your typical octogenarian...it's been hard for us to watch. She's always run circles around the youngest of us but in her wisdom, she understands that this is just part of life. Each day is a gift and she savors it.
Raise your glass....TO THE MOTHER HOOD! Long may it reign!
Amen, Michelle! Love the Mother Hood!!! ;) :)
ReplyDelete(And E & I Loved Little Bill, too...!) Hope your Mother's Day has been absolutely Mah-velous!!~~~
Sincerely, Tiffany~