DID I EVER TELL YOU THAT YOU'RE MY HERO?

For my regular readers of my blog, they have gotten to know you, my parents. They have been by my side throughout my life’s journey; whether physically and now spiritually that Dad is no longer here terrestrially speaking. I feel I have neglected to talk about you, my mother in my blogs. Even though you played an equal or more role in my becoming the man I am today, this was intentional, like me, I know you doesn’t like to be the center of attention, but in this case you deserve it, bright lights and the stage all to yourself!

I know you don’t do social media, let alone don’t care for learning more technology than you absolutely need to. Along with this post and a great current picture of us together in Key West in 2020 is definitely going to make you a little uncomfortable, but its you not recognizing your own greatness that you own. You may inevitably learn about it from one of my readers, even before I undeniably tell you that I did post this and the picture, I will make no apologies for throwing you into center stage.

You are my one and only birth Mom and remains my greatest cheerleader when my cards weren’t playing good and also was my amazing rock when things fell apart for me but most importantly, you have always been there for me. I always hope I done you proud in all that I achieved and have accomplished. The credit is yours, as you are the one who along with Dad, raised me. Yet, there are so many things only you could have taught me, most simply by being the great person you are.

I always thought of you as the super mom you saw on television families of the 1960s to early 1980s sitcoms. You know the type, the mother who stayed at home saw the children and husband off in the morning with a packed lunch, kept the household running like a well maintained machine then greeted their children home from school and later her husband with a freshly cooked dinner prepared for all of us and then clean-up and then wind down the night with some television only to repeat it all again tomorrow. I think you had the hardest job of keeping the household running like the well maintained machine running most hours, seven days a week without fail. You always made it look like it was without any effort to do it all. I don’t think I ever really saw you take a sick day, only recently I have seen you slow down, but yet to actually take a sick day.

What makes my Mom a super mom? Where do I start…

I earned my two strongest traits from you. My resilience and my tenacity. You proved over and over again your resilience by bouncing back from a major auto accident to double hip replacements and so many other hurdles. You are probably much stronger physically than I ever will be. You continue to bounce back and still do all the things you used to do, albeit not in all one day as you are used to doing, but still manage to get everything done. More often than not, I just get tired from just hearing all the things you manage to get done over a week. Your tenacity has gotten you further than any formal education or career path ever could; yet, the college of life and a well rounded career of skills learned served you in all that you do.

Without fail as far back as I can recall, we always had time together as a family, over a home cooked dinner. We always waited for my Dad to come home from work before we ate dinner. This was the time we shared our day; mostly mine how school went.  As I grew older and remained home during my college years, eating together became a challenge with my job and classes at all hours and increasing social opportunities at both work and school. However; we still tried to eat dinner as a family several times a week. In our case, our small family of three sat together for dinner most every night with the rare exception of my Dad or the latter me working late or most recently, went out for a low key celebration of a life milestone.

It goes without saying all my friends have always had a strong sense of feeling welcomed as family when they came over to our home. You was always were there with a smile and in turn my friends genuinely enjoyed talking with you. My closest friends often felt comfortable enough in our family that they became my extended family. To this day, my friends always ask how your doing and when visiting, we have to make time for a visit , not because its obligatory but because they genuinely care about you. Both of you always welcomed my friends rave what great parents I have. This only reaffirmed what I already knew.

Our home was not filled with extravagant furnishings but was filled with the comforts of being a home. There was not an ounce of pretentious sign of trying to be better than our neighbors just signs of comfort and a home built on strong foundations of love. We can all define love by similar terms but we also express it differently. There was not a single friend of mine or my parents who came over that wasn’t embraced with genuine feeling of the warmth by their love.

In later years, as Dad’s health was on a steady decline after battling multiple health issues, you found your inner strength to become his primary caretaker and health care surrogate. You made sure Dad got to all his medical appointments (there were a whole lot of them!) and ensuring all his other needs were met. After many years of being a caretaker and Dad’s health challenges began to impact your own health, we both had to make the difficult decision to have Dad be admitted to a skilled nursing facility. It was the third most difficult decision we made together, I am sure you felt as you failed as his caretaker despite how long you continued to put your own personal health aside and took your needs second. In reality, my Dad’s health needs surpassed your ability to provide him the quality of care he needed and we needed someone who could provide more than the two of us combined could.

As a super Mom, your ability to be simply and unconditionally being present for me in person or never farther than a phone call away. This is what makes my you all the more exceptional, as I always came first before your own needs were met, you sacrificed more than you will ever get in return. My debt to you is paid back in terms of the love I return.

I often question did I ever tell you that you’re my hero? Maybe not in those exact words, but I often added my words to the countless flashy or sentimental store bought greeting cards I would get for your birthdays, anniversaries and holidays to give to you. There have been plenty of cards where my words left us both speechless with the only sound were the silent tears streaming down your face.

On this Mother’s Day I would be remiss to not recognize all the many wonderful women in my life who are became my Mom by all they do and continue to be there for me. The countless teachers who meant the world to me, by not only educating me from the basics to the complex but being a compassionate listener with an unbiased ear and always available. Then there were my work Mom’s who took time to refine my career skills by providing mentoring, guidance and tools of the trade and helped grow me to the professional I am today.

Lastly, but not any less important were my friends’ mothers, by virtue of lifelong friendships they always looked out for me, treated me as members of their own family and will always have my back as well. For these Mom’s, I thank you and love each and everyone of you and am humbled with pride having you by my side, as we walk along my journey in life and wish you a Happy Mother’s Day today and everyday.