Sunday, April 19, 2009

The Influence of a Mom

"I am just a Mom", she said timidly as she introduced herself. She had been asked by her son to attend a banquet in his honor. One of his professors had asked her what she did for a living. "I'm just a mom", she said again. Little did that professor know what she had done for her son. She had helped him overcome great obstacles in his life. He could read now and enjoyed learning. He was free of cancer and could now run and jump just like the other boys. When he was young this was such a chore. School didn't come easy for him and he had to miss so much of it because of his cancer. But now he was going to be a Doctor. What a miracle. Mike, her son, was receiving the highest award given to medical students. He had outperformed his classmates on several of the practicums and had shown great skill and compassion as he diagnoised the patients he treated his last year of residency. Tears welled up in his mother's eyes as she saw her son walk to the podium to recieve his award. He very graciously accepted his award and then thanked all of his professors and classmates for being nominated. Then he turned to her, his mother, and with tears in his eyes he said I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my mom.
My mother is a remarkable lady. I don't think she ever thought that I would be able to make it here. I was the middle child and caused her lots of grief and some similes. When I was a baby she use to walk the halls at night trying to comfort me. I had colic and never seemed to be content. She got little sleep and worried a lot about my health. As I got older I was always climbing on top of things and falling off. The ER nures knew me by name. I then got cancer and the hospital became my second home. My mom was always there holding my hand through it all and encouraging me to never give up. As I started school my Mom sat and read to me every night. We worked on my abc's and numbers. I had a hard time at first learning how to read. It was very difficult for me and I would get very discouraged but with my mother's encouragement I continued to try hard every day. I didn't want to disappoint my mom. As I grew older my mom was still always there to help me. She drove me to my soccer games, attend cub scouts with me, took me to piano lessons that I then hated, but now love her for. Listened to me when I got dumped by my girls fiends and loved me unconditionally when I messed up.
I don't think I ever really appreicated my mom that much until I went off to college. You always think that your drawer will be full of clean clothes, sock, and underware. Wow what a shocker it was when I realized that I had no clean socks. I never let that happened again. All the service that she did for me came tubmbling through my mind as I sat their folding my clothes. She truly sacrificed much because of me. Hours upon hours were spent helping me with homework, taking me to Dr. appointments, driving me to soccer games, taking me to music lessons, helping me with school projects, and holding and loving me when I was sad or hurting.
All of us have moms who have sacrificed a lot for us. They have lost countless hours of sleep over us both when we were babies and when we were teenagers. They have been our taxi driver, our cooks, our nurses, our counselors and mentors. They have given us encouragement when we were down and helped dry our tears when our hearts got broken.
Today society places a lot of emphasis on what mothers do outside of the home. The careers they have, the cars they drive, the places they have traveled to, the awards they have recieved, and how much money they make. But what I think really is important is what a mom does inside the home. Money can't buy true happiness. It can't replace a hug or kiss when you have fallen down and need help. It can't help mend a broken heart or give you advice in your time of need. It can't make your children truly love you and it will never bring you true happiness. I wish more people would realize how important it is to be just a mom. Behind every good person is a wonderful mother. I hope that we will all thank our mothers for everything that she has done for us.
Mike then slowy walked down for the podium and kissed his mom. "I love you so much he said. Thanks for everything."

2 comments:

  1. What a wonderful tribute! Thank you for entering it!

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  2. A testimony to the power of a mother's love - an amazing story. Well done!

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