To All the Mothers

They say that there is no love as pure as a mother’s love, and I find it hard to think of any evidence to suggest the contrary. Yes, I know that yesterday was Mother’s Day and I kind of missed the boat on that one, but just humor my belated ramblings, would you? Besides, I shouldn’t need an excuse to express my gratitude for perhaps the most under-appreciated figure in all of human history. Isn’t it always the mom that works and works and works to make the whole family one cohesive unit? I can only speak of what I’ve seen with my own eyes, but I’m convinced that mothers in general tend to pull more than their own weight when it comes to chores, parenting, and everything in between. Having been so fortunate to receive the love of a woman as amazing as my mother, it’s almost impossible for me to imagine how anyone could have a dysfunctional relationship with the person meant to be nourishing and supportive even before she could hold you in her arms. Truly, everywhere I look I can only see wise women raising strong children. Why, just the other day, I even saw this pattern repeated in nature, as a pair of turtles crossed my path down by the brook.

Proceeding in a straight line as though they were on parade, the watchful mother remained exactly one step ahead of her youngster, testing the waters and clearing a safe path to make the going easier for her lucky spawn. Taking great care to always keep an eye to the little one behind her while still never loosing focus on the future directly ahead, I imagine they would be able to survive many difficult obstacles together like this. An adorable duo indeed, it was easy to see that the turtle tot was still trying to elbow in ahead of his guardian for a role reversal, showing a return of compassion for all her efforts. Still immature, he was kept in check by a few loving taps from those short, stubby feet of hers.

Struggling to gain an edge on her, the little shelled child still managed somehow to catch up just long enough to whisper some brief, unheard secret that only the two of them will ever know.

I can only speculate that he said something about his gratitude and love towards her, his recognition of how difficult it must be to always think of his needs and wants before her own… But on the other hand, if he’s anything like human children, it was more likely to be an embarrassed nagging, asking her to give him more space like the rest of his friends have.