IN honor of Mothers' and Fathers' Day
My father passed away 3 years ago, and my 5 siblings all wondered how my mother, then 76 years old, would be able to cope. Their 55th anniversary would have been but two weeks after my father's passing.
As time and the natural order of things dictate, I, like other petulant teenager girls, didn't appreciate Mom at the time. In fact, I always thought she was a little square, a bit too strict, and didn't smile a lot.
As I watched my mother through the emotional rollercoaster of the last days of Dad's life, it struck me how extraordinarily strong this woman is. Through painful tears and heart-wrenching love, she made us all realize it was time to "let go", that existing on machines was not Dad's wish, that he was, as she said "At heaven's door, let him go in"
Since that time she has grown, and we have all reconnected in ways I never dreamed possible. She has a sweet, naive outlook on so many things in life, yet is so very tenacious in her faith and love it awes me.
To all mothers, mothers to be, grandmothers, grandfathers, fathers sons and daughters: In a day and age when we look to an instant answer to all of life's challenges, consider that a parent's work is never done, it requires enormous faith, sacrifice and patience, and is often taken all too much for granted.
Parenthood is the one grassroots effort that can truly change the course of humanity. These are the roots of our core values, our center. Someone once said that (roughly) "As the family goes, so goes the nation". The longer I live, the more I realize the pure truth of that statement.
No one is perfect, and successful parenting is not defined by such boundaries as wealth or position. My father supported 6 children on a farmer's income that would be considered near poverty level, even when we were growing up....yet his philosophy, as one of his favorite writers penned was "to live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to man".
He was a kind and funloving man, and over 500 people came to pay respects and tell a story about their connection with him during his life. It was stunning to me that one simple farmer might touch so many lives, and brought home to me the value of a single life, and that it has to do not with how many things we accumulate, but how many other lives we enrich with our own precious gift.
Your parents, with a little miraculous intervention, provided you the gift of life. Share it in a way that makes others want to cherish their own life a little more!
