Days of the Mothers

A personal reflection concerning Mother's Day and motherhood.

 

 

Mother !  Mama !  Mommy !  Mom  !

 

Children’s Voices, young and old, around the World call out to the Women who gave them Life.  Incubated their once wriggling, squiggling cells and gave them Birth.  Nurtured and Sustained their budding Lives depending upon, and in accordance to, the Mother’s Character, Circumstances, Opportunities, Choices, and whims of Chance, Change and Time.

 

Some Mothers are their Children’s Friends and Mentors.  Some Mothers are Foes to their Offspring.  It’s a complex and complicated Relationship as Everyone knows.

 

Mothers are the Living Wombs of Creation for all Nations.

 

“Mama, what’s for supper ?”

 

“Fried chicken, green beans, and sweet potatoes.  You girls wash your face and hands, and come help set the table.”

 

My Sisters and I could hear Mama opening the oven door to check on the sweet potatoes.  We smiled widely at one another as we scurried about putting our school books away, washing up, and preparing the family table, while inhaling the aroma of the chicken crackling in the popping grease of the frying pan.

 

“Yes, ma’am.  Oh, Mama, it smells delicious.  Thanks for fixin’ one of our favorites.  We could smell it all the way from the bus.  Ha !”

 

“Don’t forget to say Grace, girls.”

 

After dinner our daily chores had to be done.  We took turns washing and drying the dishes, cleaning the kitchen, feeding the cows, horses, chickens, ducks, peacocks, dogs, cats, and whatever other wild critters we were giving a home to at the time.  Then we had to hit the Books, and later prove to Mama that we had completed all of our assigned homework.  All of it had to be done before we could relax and do what we wanted to do.

 

Yes, sometimes we moaned, groaned, fussed, balked and rebelled.  But Mama stood firm.  Our Responsibilities had to be completed before we got Free Time.  And if we back-talked, complained and rebelled too much or for too long, we just outright lost Free Time altogether.

 

Mama spent her Time and Energies with ’her girls’ teaching us Life Skills, a strong Work Ethic, Responsibility to Others and to other Living Creatures, and the importance of maintaining daily Routines to the general ebb and flow of our Lives.

 

Mama taught us to see Beauty and Art all around us, and in everything.

 

“Girls, come take a look at this red oak leaf.  See the beautiful reds, greens and yellows ?  See the tiny veins in the leaf ?  Hold the leaf up to the Light.  Look at the wondrous symmetry of the leaf.  See how the Light changes ?  How the leaf changes in the Light ?”

 

“The leaves may be dying as Winter approaches, but, oh how beautiful they are.  Mother Nature puts the trees to rest in a blaze of autumn colors, and scatters the trees leaves to the ground to decay - to decompose - to become nourishment for New Life - New Plants - New Trees, Grasses and Flowers.  For the insects crawling beneath the leaves or underground.  For the birds singing in the trees.  For the cows and their calves.  The mares and their foals.  The chickens and their baby chicks, the mama dogs and their puppies, the mama cats and their kittens.  They’re all, plants and animals alike, Parts of the Cycle of Life.  We all are.”

 

“We all experience it.  We all go through it.  We all have our Life Seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.  It’s nothin’ to be afraid of.  It’s just the way things are.  We’re all a Part of it.”

 

“Mother Earth has the capacity and potential to Nurture and Sustain All Mothers and their Offspring.”  

 

“And Motherhood has the capacity and potential to take on many various Shapes and Forms.”

 

“Mama, why did you toss that pretty leaf into the wind ?”

 

“Just watch, girls.  Watch and See.  See how the leaf is Dancin’ and Glidin’ - Dancin’ and Flutterin’ ?  Watch.  It’s Risin’ and Fallin’ - Risin’ and Fallin’ - Risin’…

 

“Where is it Mama ?  I can’t See it anymore.”

 

“It’s still up there, Baby.  Dancing’ on the Wind.  We may not be able to See it with our Eyes.  But it’s still there.  Still Dancin’.  Still Risin’.  Just like all of you girls.  Still Risin’.  Still Dancin’.  Always and forever a Part of things.  Another Cycle within the many Universal Cycles of Life.

 

Reviews

[E. L. Foley]

The style here is an interesting mix of specific and personal with general (allegorical?). Nice message, and it painted a picture. :)