Thinking About Mom

Spring is finally here. It was a long cold winter in the suburbs of Washington, DC. April showers will bring May flowers and we will once again be thinking about Mom. For us baby boomers Mom is now getting on in years and it is time for her to relax. It is time for us to pick up the load for her and to make this time in her life as pleasant as possible.

We can think back in our lives to all of the things Mom has done for us. Starting with the months of carrying us inside and the pain she endured to bring us to life. To the meals that made us strong and the teachings that made us just. Her scolding that set us straight and her loving that made us feel so warm. Is there anyone in the world more deserving of a rest in their golden years?

My mom had to work miracles. My dad had been sick quite a bit; it was something that started when he was in the service. He spent a lot of time at the veteran's hospital. My mom took the little money he could earn and turned it into good food and warm clothing for three kids. I still don't know how she managed it. She kept us going through some pretty tough times.

When we were teenagers my mother did what she could be make us look cool. During that time the cool guys wore their pants very tight; they were called pegged pants. I remember my mother spending hours hand sewing our pants to make them look like the pegged pants that other kids were buying. It was just one of the many things that moms did for their kids.

We lived in the small city of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. We didn't have a car and to this day I don't understand how my mother kept our house supplied with everything that we needed. She would go downtown on the bus and lug things home. I would run up to the corner store for bread and things but Mom brought everything else in somehow.

My mom just celebrated her eight-seventh birthday. She lives with my wife and me now and we see that she is comfortable. She has Alzheimer's and you can tell a lot about her life in the questions she asks. Most people know that people that suffer from Alzheimer's lose their memory but it is a little more than that. My mother's life had been filled with one goal and that was to make ends meet for another month. Now that she is being taken and care of and she has no worries in that regard, her mind won't let her forget. The main question that she will ask is about the rent. She'll suddenly worry that the rent is due and she doesn't have any money to pay. We will explain that she doesn't pay rent and that everything is taken care of and she will be amazed. This can happen seven or eight times in an hour when she has an an episode. I guess after spending her life working to make ends meet that it is hard for her mind, in its present condition, to accept that she doesn't have to worry anymore.

Mom deserves to rest. She deserves to take over the family room and the big screen TV. She deserves to have meals served to her and to have her laundry done. With my dad being sick she did it all for my two brothers and me and she did it with very little money.

Moms are very special people and Mother's Day should be a very special day. Take a few moments on Mother's Day to remember how much Mom has done for you and then show her how much you appreciate it. After all Mom has had a great part in making you the person you are today.