A Mother'sDay post: I have mentioned before that my Dad was one of my heroes. He was an alcoholic
who never graduated from high school who was "honor man" in his Marine Corps class and started the first AA chapter in our small rural county when he decided to take his life back from alcohol. I loved, admired and respected him. But, he likely would have been "just another drunk" if he had not had the good fortune to have married my mother.
My mother grew up in a dirt floor shack in a coal mine town in southern Illinois. She was chronically under-nourished as a small child ( that's the fancy term for "she damn near starved" for a few years), had rheumatic fever which scarred her heart valves and led to open heart surgery when she was in her sixties. She was valedictorian of her graduating class from high school and grew up absolutely convinced that the Democratic Party was the only rational choice for those she called "workin' folks".
My Dad used to say that "pound for pound, she's the best bare knuckle fighter in the county". And, she was. Whether it was me versus the rich kids who lived "north of the tracks" or Adlai versus Ike, when Mom picked a side, she gave it her all. So, she retrieved both my Dad and me from the police station at different times for different reasons, and never hesitated to let us know that we were loved unconditionally and she had our back.
The source of her strength? She believed that love--- of anyone who would accept it and especially those who refused it--- was the most powerful force in the universe. I am ashamed to say that I sometimes forget that.
On Mother's Day, Mom, you know I have never stopped being grateful that I was blessed with you. I will die loving you.
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Awesome!
She passed shortly before Mother's Day last year. She never got to see the Mother's Day card I bought for her, but I made sure it was in her coffin when she was creamated. At least that way it will be with her forever, along with the words I wrote in it telling her how much I loved her.
The loss really hit me this year when Mother's Day approached & I realized that for the first time in my life ... I didn't have a mother to buy a card for ... because she was gone ...
Thanks for sharing!
