Some days motherhood is a tough gig. Those of us who have served in the trenches can agree with that. But motherhood does have rewards. Today I would like to pay tribute to some cool moms.
My stepdaughter, Julie, is a mom of two sons, for whom she would swallow broken glass if need be. When her oldest son, now a college student, was about 6 she organized a party for his July birthday, and when just a few kids showed up she was devastated.
“Look” I told her, “It doesn’t matter. Ryan is having a good time,” but she could not be consoled. Later that day she leaned into me and said, “Next year I’ll have it during school months. That is why so few kids showed up,” and I knew right then that she had the heart to be a good mom.
My daughter Jenny delayed parenting so she could put her husband through medical school and now, the mother of two preschoolers, she parents with dignity and respect. We took her kids to IKEA on a shopping trip, always a bold move, when her 4-year-old son had a hissy fit. There is no quick way out of IKEA so we were trapped there, and she steered him into the bathroom and calmed him down. When she took a week-long trip out of town alone, her 2-year-old daughter missed her like crazy. While playing with her doll we heard her say, tearfully, “It’s OK sissy, Mommy will be home in two days!”
Then there is my daughter-in-law Tracy, whom I love as if she were my own blood. Tracy has three children younger than 7. Her middle child, Maxford, who is four, was born with Down syndrome. Some days it seems she has lost herself in motherhood, but I remember a girl before children who loved old coins, just loved to hold them and look at them, maybe set them on a windowsill. Years ago, we were driving in her Subaru when the mileage clicked over to 50,000 miles. She clapped her hands in delight, eyes shining and said, “Oh I wish I had my camera.” She has the heart of a child, and is a great mom.
Then there is me! I was a good mom, too. A single mom, I raised my kids alone. Some days I felt as if I were dancing on the rim of a volcano, but it was always a pleasure, a joy and an honor to parent my two wonderful children. Recently I overheard my son, who will be 40 this year, say to a friend, “My mom raised my sister and me alone and we had a great life,” and then he added, “but my Mom led a selfless life.” Always a nice boy, that kid. More about him on Father’s Day.
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