Hey, howdy, hey! Good morning Mothers around the world. I could spend this time talking about the history of Mother’s Day, or how much we appreciate Mothers, or even what a Mother is to me. So I will do all three!
Mother’s Day originates in the old days or yore…blah blah blah
OK the short and sweet of it is: MOTHER’s DESERVE IT ALL! That’s right, Mothers deserve all the love, kindness, respect and help not just on this day, but every day. They won’t get it, but they deserve it. Let’s face it, Father’s Day is a joke. Let me explain before you slam me. We get a neck tie for our services, and we are happy to get that tie! We don’t do what mothers do, though. Mothers go through 9 months (normally) of pregnancy, no telling how many hours of labor, then they start the hard part of raising a child/children/husband. Some mothers want to be called ‘Mommy’, some ‘Momma’, some ‘Meme’ and some want to be called when the cooking is done. Mothers are employed at home, at the office, on the construction site, at the hospital, in the schools, just about any profession you can name! They work hard all day, and then go home to start their second job. Some work-at-home mothers bust tail all day, cook a supper fit for kings, nurse boo-boos and kiss away tears then try to get a little, um rest, before starting again the next day. There is no vacation for mother from her family. What does she get in return?
Every year a card, if she is lucky, comes to her with words of love, and a day of outstanding service so she can feel appreciated. Sometimes a gift is given, along with a meal out on the town. It isn’t enough. She deserves so much more. My own mother was special, and I will tell you how special.
I didn’t know my mother too well. So, how do I know she was special? Her name was Patricia Ann. My grandma was Esther Ann, and my sister was named Tonya Ann. I see a pattern… Anyway, there was a divorce, and my sis and I were always going back and forth from my mother and dad. My mother had custody of us. Dad wanted us, my mother just didn’t want my dad to have us. We were given to the welfare by my mother as little children, too small for me to remember anything. My dad didn’t know where we were for a whole year. I was two, my sister was 4. The only memory I have of that time is of being shut in a dark closet, my sister yelling at somebody, “You let him out!”, her being shut in the closet with me, and then her holding me. Courts were weird back in the early 70′s. My dad was told he would have to be married to get us back from the state (Indiana). He was about to ask his girlfriend to marry him when the judge followed up with, “You must re-marry the children’s mother.” So, my dad re-married my mother to get us back. When we got back together, I guess things were still the same between them, because my dad decided to divorce my mother again after a year. He moved to Kentucky, where his extended family was, and we stayed in Indiana. My mother didn’t put us up for adoption again, she kept us. She became very protective of us. She did her best.
I guess it was hard being a poor single mother of two. She had us until I was in the second grade. We spent summers with dad and my dad’s mother, Granny. During the school year, we were with my mother. It was hard on my mother though. It got so hard that she had a break-down. My dad came and got us, and got custody of us after a while. I didn’t see or hear from my mother again for 9 years. She re-married, had another child, my sister Kelly, and started her life over. She became a nurse, and a loving and loved Mother and wife to Darryl. I never thought of Darryl as my step-dad, I didn’t know the guy!
One day when I was 14, I answered the phone and was speaking to my mother. I was confused about how I was supposed to feel. I didn’t know her at all. But she wanted to see Tonya and me. Tonya and I lived with Granny instead of Dad. We wanted to, since we didn’t really like our dad’s new wife. So my Grandmother told my mother she could come visit us. I am Tony, have been Tony my whole life, and never have liked the name Anthony, my given name. When my mother and her mother, grandma arrived, I was upstairs. I wasn’t very mature and decided I didn’t want to meet them. My Grandma came to the stairs and was calling for me to come down. “Anthony! Anthony!” Ugh!!! So my Granny called me downstairs and I got to know them. We had a good visit. But they still lived away from us, and I didn’t see my mother again for 7 more years, while I was in the Navy. She wrote me a letter asking me to visit, and I wrote back that I would. Then I started writing with her. I came home on leave, and went to visit my mother. We got to know one another somewhat, and I finally met my sister Kelly. My mom stayed in touch, but we were never as close as when I was a child. Sadly, she passed away when I turned 28.
I am married to a beautiful, caring woman. She is a great mother! She has given me five children. I chose one of my girls, Kerri Ann, to carry on the middle name of my mother, my sister, and my grandma, all three of whom have passed away. They were all very special. Each was a mother, each was loved, and each deserved more.
So today, Mother’s Day 2011, I send out my love and respect to all of the wonderful women who choose to bring life into this world. Without you mother, we wouldn’t be here. It is a hard job, sometimes thankless as well. I hope you know that inside each of us, there is a spark of love for you that can never be extinguished.
