A mom's love can get you back on your feet

By Mary Regina Morrell
Catholic Online

"But now remains faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13

Imagine coming home and plopping into your delightfully comfortable, high back, roll-around computer chair with the intention of relaxing with some reading and email.

Before you can blink an eye, one of the legs breaks off and you land with an unceremonious thud on your back followed by the chair which comes crashing down from behind over your head.

Now stretched out on your back on the hardwood floor, as the last few papers knocked from a nearby table flutter to rest on the floor nearby, you realize the only person home with you is your husband -- hearing challenged, bundled up in bed with the TV blasting on the second floor.

What else is there to do but laugh?

And laugh I did, as I caught a glimpse of the two dogs standing in the doorway nearby watching me with some very strange expressions on their hairy faces.

"Just what are you looking at?" I queried, thinking back to all those episodes of Lassie when that God-send of a faithful friend would inevitably run for help.

As I called fruitlessly for help I had an opportunity to look around the room with a new perspective, literally. The textured paint on the ceiling was holding up pretty good for not having been touched up in many years, I thought.

Then, I noticed a sign that had hung high above my computer for many years. It was a gift from one of my sons. In bright red letters across a white metal surface were the words Mother of the Year Award. The sentiments written below highlighted self-sacrifice, generosity, joy and good humor. It warmed my heart once again and for a minute, took my attention away from the throbbing pain in my back and head. Still, imagining how I must look to anyone who would happen to come upon me, I laughed even harder

Eventually my husband heard my pathetic calls. I will refrain from sharing his response when he came into the room, or the painful and embarrassing struggles it actually required to get me to my feet. But once I was mobile and resting in a different, more stable, chair, I reflected on the sign once again, reminded that the next day would have been my mother's birthday.

I thought of her and her endless smile and hoped that she had known that, in my mind, she truly deserved the Mother of the Year Award. She may not have had the same sense of spirituality that my father had, but she taught me about God in her own way, by the way she loved - fully, generously, unconditionally and joyfully.

As I write this, it is her birthday and I can say honestly, even though this year marks the 10th anniversary of her death, that I miss her terribly. But it seems she finds ways to make her presence known!

As I cleaned up the papers and books that had fallen to the ground with me I noticed something very familiar. It was the prayer card from my mother's wake service that I had made into book marks. I smiled, thinking how moms can be so insistent, since the text was, providentially, the text of a song I had just sung the night before during the Chamber Choir concert. Do not stand at my grave and weep.I am not there; I do not sleep I am a thousand winds that blow. I am a diamond glint on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you wake in the morning hush; I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circling flight. I am the soft starlight at night. Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there; I do not sleep.

I guess Mom's have a way of always being there when you fall, and I have no doubt that my mom is always helping me to get back up.

Love you, Mom.

____________________

Mary Morrell is a syndicated columnist and author.
Her newest Lenten reflection journal, Anam Briste, Broken Soul, is available by calling Pat 732.562.1990, ext. 1310.

Contact

Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org NJ, US
Mary Regina Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Educationp, 732 562.1990

Email

mmorrell@diometuchen.org

Keywords

mom, love, fall, feet

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