Mothers Everywhere Own Wisdom

Mothers Everywhere Own Wisdom

 

          Throughout history, mothers and their children have shared a bond that goes far beyond instinct or parental loyalty.  A love of the purest kind, that transcends explanation or reason.  An intangible, emotional connection that only those fortunate enough to have given birth to one of God’s creations can begin to understand or appreciate!

          Evening has fallen, dark and serene, as the children begin their inevitable restlessness before bedtime.

          Mom watches as her three youngsters frolic with each other, a light trace of a prideful smile, as she considers how fortunate she is to have such healthy, good looking little ones.  The thought is fleeting though, as she has to police this evenings activities.

          “Mom, Tommy’s playing too rough!”  Jessica whines.

          “Tommy, play nice with your sister.”  Mom barks.

          The roughhousing continues.

          “Mom, Timmy bit me!” Tommy screams.  He stops to survey the damage.  Nothing too serious, so he proceeds to wrestle Timmy to the ground.

          “OK, OK, enough, break it up!”  commands mom, “It’s getting late, time to get ready for bed.”

          “Oh mom, but we’re not tired yet.”  Tommy, usually the most energetic and vocal, chimes in.

          “It’s late and it’s time for bed, I said, now don’t give me a hard time.”  The stern, motherly voice comes to the surface, “besides, you children need your rest to look fresh.  Tomorrow could be the big day!”

          “Oh Mom,” three disappointed, but obedient voices return.

          As the threesome ramble over, they say almost in symphony, “Mom, tell us the story again, please.”

          “Please mommy, please!”  All children seem to know how to push this sympathetic button.  The sincerity in their voices, the pout on their faces is irresistible.

          “OK kids, if you clean up and behave, I’ll tell you the story.”  A fair compromise.

          The trio, confident in their victory over the bedtime struggle, rush off to clean and groom.

          Timmy is the first to return, “I’m ready Mom.”

          “Did you clean your face?”  Mom’s always know.

          “Oh, Mom.”

          “Come on, everyone must be ready for bed, or I won’t tell the story.”  The tug of war between parent and child for bedtime dominance is a game of give and take.

          “OK” as Timmy rushes off to finish is preparation.

          A few minutes later they all saunter over.  “We’re ready Mom, we’re all ready!”

          After a careful inspection, checking to see if anyone else was remiss in their nighttime cleansing, she says satisfied, “Now, everyone gather around.”

          They all huddle close.

          “I was young and along.  My family had abandoned me.  I was a free spirit, just wandering around trying to find my identity.  I would roam from place to place, kind-hearted stranger to kind-hearted stranger looking for a sign what to do with my life, and taking things one day at a time.  My life was going nowhere, and I really didn’t know where I would end up, or with who.”

          “Then ‘it’ happened!”  “I was walking passed this food store on the avenue, looking for a quick snack, and there he was!  He was just staring into the window with this glazed look on his face.”

          “He was gorgeous!  Lean, muscular, and with a regal posture.  I just couldn’t take my eyes off of him.”

          “He was magnificent, and I had to get his attention.”

          “He didn’t notice me at first, so I pranced back and forth, then just stopped and stared till he turned to make eye contact with me.”

          “We stared into each others eyes for what seemed like hours.  His clear, crystal like, hazel eyes seemed to burn a hole right through me and straight to my heart.”

          “That’s when I knew we were meant for each other.”

          “Your father and I feel in love instantly, at first sight as they say.”

          “We would touch and cuddle and kiss endlessly.  We were deeply in love!”

          “Sometimes we would talk for hours, losing track of time, till it was late in the evening.  I remember the tenants in the apartment building next door didn’t always appreciate this, and they would yell out their windows at us to keep quiet.  I guess we’d get a little loud!  We didn’t care though, and we would continue talking till we were exhausted, then he would stare at me some more.”

          “He would look at me like I was the most beautiful creature in the world, then we would lay side by side like spoons in a drawer and drift off to sleep.  I felt so warm and safe!”

          “One day he left, as he often did, to do the things dads do, so we could eat and have a place to live.”

          “I hated it when he’d leave!  I would miss him something awful, but I understood he had to go.”

          “I would wait for him for hour.  Time would seem to stand still while he was gone.  I would clean myself, and make myself soft and pretty for his return and we would spend more blissful time together.”

          “This time was different though.  I waited hours long than usual.  I waited into and through the night, but he never came back!  I was worried sick and I didn’t know what to do.”

          “Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer, so I went to look for him.  I imagined the worst, because I knew if he could come back, he would have!”

          “I went up and down the streets and the alleys in the neighborhood.  I even crossed through peoples yards hoping to catch a glimpse of him somewhere, but he was nowhere to be found!”

          “Exhausted and worried sick, I finally gave up the search and sadly went back to our place to rest and wait some more.”

          “I never saw your dad again!”

          “Shortly thereafter, I started to feel strange.  At first I thought it was I was worn out, but this was different.  I felt worn and a little ill, but also warm and fuzzy at the same time.  That’s when I realized I was expecting!”

          “Though I was still depressed over losing your father, it made me happy to think, “if I couldn’t have him, at least I could have a small part of  him with me always.”

          “Being pregnant and having no husband was difficult, but I got by, and the day you were born was the happiest day of my life!”

          A solemn tone came over her voice.  “Originally, there were four of you.”

          “Tommy, you were first, followed by Jesse, than Timmy, and finally Jimmy.”

          “He was very small and weak, hardly half the size of Tommy.  He died a few hours later!”

          “Oh, how sad!”  Jesse says, and she begins to cry.

          Girls are always the most sensitive, Mom thinks.  “Don’t be sad kitten, sometimes it’s for the best!  He was so weak.  He’s much better off with God taking care of him than being in this cruel world, and not being able to take care of himself.”

          With that, she kisses Jesse on top of the head, and takes a deep breath.  “On with the story!”

          “Giving birth to you was the easy part.  After that, things got hard!”

          “I was a single mom, alone in the world, no family, no man, no one!”

          “Worse yet, we had no place to live.  Since your father disappeared, I was kicked out of our place.”

          “Food was also hard to come by.  We would eat scraps from garbage cans, and accept handouts from whatever kind stranger I could beg a morsel out of.  We would drink from leaky pipes and rain water.  Whatever we could do to survive!”

          “Sometimes, the nice night cook from the Chinese restaurant at the other end of the alley would save some leftovers till we came by.  He was very nice, and I don’t know how we could have gotten by without him.”

          “Even with the kindness of these concerned strangers, we were in big trouble.  We were a couple of  skipped meals away from serious health problems, and I was beginning to lose hope!”

          “Then ‘HE’ came along!”

          “Mr. Johnston, right Mom?” the kids respond, knowing this story by heart.

          “That’s right, kids, Mr. Johnston, the kindest man I’ve ever met!  He saved our lives!”

          “He found us destitute, and dirty and took us in.  He gave us a warm place with a roof over our heads.  A nice, clean, comfortable place where we could sleep and recover from our plight.”

          “He gave us food to eat, as much as we wanted, and our strength quickly recovered.  OK, so maybe it wasn’t the best eats, but it sure beat eating out of garbage cans any day!”

          “He gave us back our dignity and pride!”

          “After all this and more, Mr. Johnston never asked us for anything in return.”

          “We’ve been with him ever since!”

          “That brings us to today, and the end of our story.”  She looks around and sees nothing but heavy eyelids.

          “The sad part for me is soon you’ll all be leaving home.  You’re growing up so fast.  Soon you’ll have your own families and telling your kids bedtime stories.”

          Eyelids almost closed, heads too heavy to lift, a few synchronized whispers, barely audible of “we love you Mommy!”

          “Mommy loves you too, babies!”

          She gives them all a light kiss, and the four of them drift off to sleep feeling warm and thankful for their good fortune.

          Morning comes almost instantaneously, all sleeping the kind of sleep where beautiful dreams flow one into another but that you barely remember, and awake surprisingly refreshed.

          Mom awakes first and wipes the sleep from her eyes.  She notices movement from outside the window.

          “Kids, wake up!  Come on, wake up!”  she says with a sense of urgency in her voice.

          A big yawn and Tommy replies, “What Mom, what’s the matter?”

          The others are right behind.

          “Look alive all of you.  These could be the ones, the people we’ve been waiting for.  Oh God, I hope they take all of you?  I’d hate to see you separated if you didn’t have to be.”

          “Come on, up to the window, be perky, look smart!”

          “Come on now, speak up, don’t let them think you’re mutes!”

          “Meow!” says Tommy.

          “Meow!  Meow! says Timmy and Jesse.

          “Good, good, and remember, Mommy loves you!”

          “We love you too, Mom!”

          On that morning in the Mall, Johnston’s Pet Shop window never looked so cuddly and inviting.

Jordan Gray.