[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s a young child it is easy to think of a good mother as invincible. She is your beginning, your first example of what it means to be a human being and one of your primary sources of knowledge. As you grow, her voice becomes an unavoidable part of life’s fabric; it rushes to provide unsolicited advice, lauds you during achievements and denounces your wrongdoings. She is also an ever present well of love and protection, an umbrella in the rain, a pillow for your sorrows and mysteriously possesses an unmatched ability to tick a nerve that only she appears to have access to—for which you love her all the more.
Until something happens. On an unspecial day in your adult life words escape your lips and you realize you sound just like her. Miraculously, you’ve become her. You always looked like her, but now you even walk and talk like her. Eventually, with this new outlook, you see the woman, your mother, whom you have known your whole life and notice now that, like you have aged, so has she. And her mortality disarms you. Wrinkles that went unnoticed before take on new prominence. Her once dark head now has been invaded by silver. Her skin has become softer than ever.
It’s an unnerving process, coming to terms with the fact that she will not be a shield forever; nor an ever present comfort. In fact, the way it was designed is that you must live without her for some time and the painful realization changes you and fills you with an insatiable desire to pour into all the holes in her life everything she needs.
Now every ailment that befalls her, every new ache and pain rings a little louder in your ears, a cause of alarm, a reason to visit the doctor. You know the hands of time cannot be reversed, so every minute spent together is a minute to be treasured. You vow to cherish each moment and pray you can be all that she was as a mother. Mothers are nuturers, miracle workers, fountains of love and no one can ever take the place of a good mother. So, here’s to hoping appreciation can be felt on this day for those who wear that title responsibly, and to wishing all mothers a fantastic Mother’s Day.
