M O T H E R S

With Mother's Day fast approaching (MAY 11, 2008!!!), of course I started thinking about my own mother more so than my own motherhood. She gave me LIFE: there is nothing that is more precious or powerful in my opinion. I was the middle child, the blond-haired baby, and, very much spoiled; my mother delivered me late afternoon, after a very busy day on the farm of sending my brothers off to school, take care of the barn and the chicken coup, bake bread, make lunch and then start chopping wood with my dad. I reminded her that she was about to give birth to me with a sharp pain to her lower back and groin; this is probably the only time when I was able to exercise any control over my mother!

I was delivered by a midwife on our sofa, with the wood stove roaring in the middle of February, and the neighborhood women all helping without much fanfare; the very next day, my mother was up on her feet back to the chores that waited for her from the day before. She later said laughingly birth was an inconvenience to her very busy schedule!

Giving birth alters a woman's life forever. She becomes more of a creative workhorse, more organized, more task oriented, less selfish, more giving; her own likes, pleasures, needs are put on hold for a very long life. My mother was not educated, but her common sense and wisdom helped her in raising us. Although our grandparents helped in raising us, our overall personality was developed by our mother's morals; my father was physically there and earned the income necessary, but was not much of a disciplinarian. My mom ruled with an iron rod and lots of love.

She is my truest friend with a big heart that has no limit or condition to loving and forgiving, or to give advice; even when I did not take all the advice she divulged, she found a way to make it OK. Her love dissipates all the darkness in my heart; her smile is my sunshine. Her eyes are my radar to life and her hugs are my warmth and safe haven. She has taught me to fight life's battles without weapons or words that I will regret the moment my temper dissipates, not to succumb to disappointments but to keep going. Most of all, my mother taught me by example to act with a conscience and not to withhold my love to punish....never understood this when I was young; now that I am married and a mother of 3 myself, as hard as it becomes at times, this advice rings true at every turn.

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother." -- Lin Yutang

I HOPE THAT WE CAN ALWAYS APPRECIATE OUR MOTHERS, NOT ONLY ON MOTHER'S DAY. THEY ARE THE JEWELED CROWNS OF OUR LIVES.