Mothers and other Heroes

She crawled down the hallway toward her children. 

She ignored her roiling stomach, her fever, the pervasive weakness.

Her children needed her. And that kept her moving.

All four little ones suffered with acute stomach flu, as did she. So instead of collapsing into her own bed, she tended to them.

Between bouts of emptying her own stomach, she wiped small sweaty brows and spoke reassuring words.

At first I watched her brace herself against the wall to stagger from sickbed to sickbed.

Two days passed and she could no longer walk upright. She crawled from child to child in a nightmare cycle of emptying vomit-filled buckets and stripping soiled sheets.

Decades later the image of my mother dragging herself to our bedsides remains burned into my memory, a picture of selfless devotion.

Our beautiful mother, center, in red velvet blouse.

For my brothers and me, Mom has been a one-woman cheering squad, our confidant, and a fount of wisdom. Now she extends that same boundless love to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.


Proverbs 31: 26-28 describes our mother.
 

"When she speaks, her words are wise,
and she gives instructions with kindness....

Her children stand and bless her.

Mom, thank you for your diligence, your patience, and your love. You're the best.

Mom, center, at son Chris' wedding.