Friday, March 29, 2024
37.0°F

Moms: It's always the subtle things

| May 9, 2018 1:00 AM

For Mother’s Day, first I’d like to thank my children, who taught me more than any other of life’s experiences (and still do). It wasn’t until I raised my own that I fully understood and appreciated my own mother. Beyond the diapers, dinners, and driving to and fro, a good mother’s greatest gifts are much more subtle.

So Mom, now that mine are grown and I know first-hand what it takes, thank you.

Thank you for doing a hundred different things, when you had no energy left in reserve to do them. Somehow, you managed for our sakes, usually without us realizing how exhausted you really were.

Thank you for your ever-ready genuine smiles, even after you’d been crying, and especially for your self-control. Our household was not an easy one, but you never let us kids feel your stress. The more parents I see who have difficulty coping with what we did, the more I realize it took for you to do it so well. You remain one of the strongest people I’ve ever known. This may have been your greatest gift.

Thank you for your gentleness. Your tenderness. It was a child’s haven more times than I could count. I always knew it was there for me.

Thank you for always looking me in the eye, for really seeing me. You had plenty of reasons to be distracted, but we kids always felt we had your full and complete focus while together. So we felt secure, protected, close. You were always “with” us when you were with us. With today’s gadget habits, that’s increasingly rare.

Thank you for your reliability. Your word was solid; you never said one thing and did another. Trust — is anything more important in a relationship? Simply by creating this childhood trust you enabled me to have strong relationships and good judgment in choosing whom to trust, personally, professionally, intimately.

You will read this and say, “I didn’t do much” or “I don’t deserve that much credit.” You did, and you do. And it made all the difference to both your daughters.

Happy Mother’s Day.

- • •

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network whose luck as a daughter is only matched by her luck as a daughter-in-law. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.