The Special Ladies Of My Life

What can be said about mothers that hasn’t already been said before? Many have waxed eloquent in heaping praises on the most important women in their lives. While my limited vocabulary won’t properly convey my thoughts and feelings in a way that will do justice for the special ladies in my life, I will do my best to articulate them anyway.

Since children cannot have the ability to understand the many sacrifices that their mothers make for them, there was no way I could properly thank my own mother for everything she did for me, not only when I was a baby and young boy, but also as a teenager and young adult.

Quite frankly, I still don’t fully understand. However, due to having my own family and watching my amazing wife (more on that later), I am much more appreciative of all that being a mother means.

My mother means much more than what I have time to write about. This brief blog summary won’t do her justice, but I’ll do my best.

My Mom was a clean freak. No, I mean it. When it was time to clean house, it had to be spotless. That included every room of the house, even our bedrooms. If things were not clean to her satisfaction, life was not going to be pleasant!!

Even though I didn’t like that particular trait about her when I was younger, I have to grown to admire the frame of mind that caused her to be that way. After all, I’m now married to a wonderful woman who shares that frame of mind. It is one of the ways that they express their deep and powerful love. A clean home and environment leads to happiness, at least where I live.

My Mom was not afraid to use a wooden paddle she hung above the kitchen sink. This wooden paddle had a small inscription that said, “Never smack a child in the face. Nature provides a better place.” Unfortunately, I earned the undesired privilege of having the infamous wooden paddle applied to my “better place” more times than I care to recall.

These occasions were not pleasant at all as a child, but I’m thankful she cared enough about my future to introduce loving discipline into my life as a child in order to teach valuable lessons that would help produce a responsible adult later on.

It may sound like my childhood was full of bad memories. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

I remember many times when Mom would take Dwayne, myself, and our friends to go sledding out in the cold Michigan winters. We had more fun than you could imagine at “The Four Hills” and spent countless hours climbing up that crazy slope (probably took about 10 minutes after all the slipping and sliding) just to take a 30 second ride back down again.

While I didn’t understand the sacrifice she was making back then, I appreciate it with all my heart now. The fun didn’t stop with sledding trips. She would take us to a park to play, or give us money to walk to the corner store for some candy. I’ve told countless people I can’t relate to some who had troubled childhoods because mine seemed like a dream come true.

All those things pale in comparison to what I consider Mom’s most valuable contribution to the future of both Dwayne and myself. Mom knew how to pray for her family.

I wish I could honestly say I’ve been a perfect person all my life. The truth is there have been times of great struggle and difficulty. My Mom never made me feel like an outcast during these times. In fact, she reached out to embrace me, even when I resisted. But I knew Mom was praying…because I heard her. She cried out to God on my behalf, even when I felt like I could not.

Mom, thank you for everything you’ve ever done for me. But I especially want to thank you for your unwavering and unconditional love shown to me throughout my nearly 40 years of life. I simply couldn’t have made it without you.

I want to say a few words about my wife, the amazing mother of my own two children. Being a witness to what she has experienced as a mother, I can honestly say that you could not pay me enough money to ever want to become a “mommy.” I simply don’t qualify, and would never want to.

I came to an extremely quick conclusion about this when Caleb was born. Hospital staff said that what Dawn experienced physically was an extreme rarity in childbirth. She suffered the consequences for weeks and months afterwards. Moments after Caleb was born, I walked over to her and told her she was my hero. I still feel that way.

Now we have two little boys, and my love and admiration for Dawn has just grown stronger. She has a special way of connecting to Caleb and Ethan that is special and unique. There are times I can only watch in awe and wonder.

She has done things for them I simply could not. She stayed up the entire night with Caleb the first day/night he had come home from the hospital because he would not stop crying. Sleepless nights became the norm for a while. While not easy, Dawn simply stepped up to do whatever was necessary. And she still does.

Dawn somehow manages to care for the kids, cook meals for the family, clean the house, work a part-time job from home, and at the end of the evening when the kids are in bed asleep, she still finds a way to connect with me and make me feel special.

Earlier today, I asked Caleb why he loves his Mommy. He said, “Because I love her, love her.” “But why?” I replied. His answer was simple and honest, “I don’t know.”

I think that sums up the way many men feel about their mothers and wives. Words just don’t seem adequate or sufficient when trying to describe how we feel about the most special ladies.

I’ve made a feeble attempt to describe my own thoughts and feelings, but they don’t properly reflect the heartfelt love, honor, and respect I feel on the inside toward my Mom and wife.

I’ll wrap this up by simply saying that I love you both very much, and appreciate all that you’ve done and continue to do.