I WANT TO SHARE MY “DEFINING MOMENTS” IN BECOMING A “MOM”
The dictionary defines “Mom” or “Mother” as the woman who loves you unconditionally from birth, the one who puts her kids before herself, and the one you can always count on above everyone else. I’m going to call this definition “Mom.”
The urban dictionary definition of “Mom” or “Mother” is a person who has responsibility for the care of children. I will call this definition “Mother.” Obviously, we probably all like the loving definition of “Mom.” The urban definition, which I will call “Mother,” not so much. I would like to think now that I am a “Mom,” that I am the first definition!
Growing up I had many of both. I can’t speak for my birth “Mother,” “Mom.” She died in a car wreck when I was two years old. I can speak to the kind, sweet, loving Naomi, the maid who loved me like a “Mom” and took on the responsibility to care for me like a “Mother.” I never speak of the “governess” that my dad married who was supposed to care for us as a “Mother” but used to lock us in the basement for punishment. That’s all I remember about her. She only lasted 6 months! I can speak to my step “Mother.” I think at times she loved us like a “Mom,” at times she cared for us, and at times she hated us. All of these “Mothers” I saw when my dad was living. He died in a plane crash after three years of marriage to my step “Mother” when I was six years old.
After he died she lost it and consequently lost us to the system. Then, came a “Mom” who loved and cared for me and my siblings in her home for a little over a year. That would be Charlotte Geary, foster “Mom” number one. Then, it was back to the step “Mother,” but it wasn’t long before we were back in the system. Next, there was foster “Mom” number two Mrs. Stroup, a very sweet Christian lady who did love us and did care for us. She was the “Mom” of the foster home that East Dallas Exchange Club owned and operated. This was a good home placement thanks to Joe Geary, who was president of the exchange club at that time. I lived with “Mom” Stroup until high school graduation.
Many years later, at the age of 30 and 33 years old, I became a “Mom,” the one who loves her children unconditionally. I would like to think I was the “Mom” who put her children first. I had a “Mom” in my mother-in-law for a short period of time who passed before my youngest was three years old. She loved me, and she helped me learn to be a “Mom” through her example of unconditional love for her son, my husband.
So, even though I never experienced the unconditional love of a birth “Mom,” I can say I did witness and experience some wonderful “Mom” examples. And even though, at times, I could have used some “motherly” advice, I did my best at raising two fine young men. They have good hearts, they love the Lord, and they love me. What more can you ask for your children?
God blessed me with children who taught me unconditional love. I went back into this letter and counted 7 “Mothers” I experienced in my life but counted 15 “Moms”!! So, I have been blessed with many “Moms” in my life, and even though I never actually called anyone “Mom,” I know that I have been “mothered,” and I have been loved. For me, that is enough. Happy “Moms’ Day” to All!
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