There are a great many people out there who think of their mothers as saintly figures walking among the masses... You're probably one of them. I'm here to let you all know that my mother is tops among the living saints. As far as I'm concerned, she is like Mother Teresa on a smaller scale.
My mom never has a harsh word for anyone. (I guess I have the family franchise on that.) She is unfailingly patient, kind, and giving. She would gladly give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. And I do mean YOU. She doesn't have to know you in order to prompt an act of kindness, she does anything and everything for anyone and everyone, little things to better the lives of everyone she comes in contact with. She really is quite a remarkable woman.
In an act of incredible sacrifice, my mom essentially gave up EVERYTHING she had for someone else.
When my grandma died last fall, my mom, still grieving the loss of her own mom, gave up a life of independence to help my grandfather. She left the house that I grew up in, picked up only the most essential of her belongings, (meaning, she basically packed up about half of her clothes, and THAT'S IT,) and she moved into my grandparents' house to help my grandfather pick up the pieces of his shattered existence. In addition to holding down her full time job, she assumed the role that my grandma had filled.
Keep in mind that being a long-time housewife, my grandma spent the entirity of her days cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, etc. So since last fall, my mom gets up in the morning, goes to work all day long, and then comes home of an evening to cook a full dinner spread, do laundry, and any "free time" is spent doing general housekeeping and maintenance of the lawn and basically everything else. And then she puts up with my grandfather, a guy so set in his ways that he insists on a home cooked, full spread dinner, despite the fact that he doesn't cook, and mom works all day, and he refuses to "allow" her to install cable, even though she lives there and has offered to pay for it. Basically, he spends his days testing her patience and sanity to an extent that boggles the mind of ordinary people.
Over the weekend, after my mom spent the whole day spent cleaning the house from stem to stern, cooking a dinner for the two of them and guests, hauling mulch and gardening, my grandfather, thinking my mom was outside, said some things that he shouldn't have said, and that were overheard by accident, and it was more than a little hurtful to momma. He said something to the effect that he didn't know why my mom was there, and why she bothered doing any of what she's been doing these past few months. He continued on to say that she was pretty much "useless" around the house, but that she had a good heart.
He said that about his own daughter. His daughter who had given up her life as she knew it to see that he got through another day, another week, another month...
Basically everything my mom has dedicated her every waking moment to for the last nine months has been rendered totally and completely unappreciated.
I might not be there in person, but I can tell you, my mom works DAMN HARD. And she does a HELL OF A GOOD JOB at everything. So basically, I think grandpa has lost his damn mind. If he knows what's good for him, he'll claim that he is going senile and that he didn't know where he was, who he was talking about, what the words he said actually meant, or his own name for that matter.
Grandpa lost some MAJOR points with me. Nobody says that about my momma! AND I DO MEAN NOBODY... I don't care if it is grandpa!
Momma, you are spectacular. And everybody that you have ever come in contact with knows it. Your sisters know it, your mother knew it. I know it. And I have a feeling that deep down grandpa knows it as well, he's just too set in his ways and too proud to admit that he needs you and everything that you do.
And now the internet knows it too!
LET'S HEAR IT FOR MOMMA!!!!
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