Friday, May 08, 2009

The Power of a Mother's Love

For those of you who have just recently started reading this blog, I would like to quickly preface this post by sharing with you that my biological mother passed away when I was 6 years old. My father was remarried two years later to the woman who is now my mother.

My stepmother was only 22 years old when she married my father, who was 43.

And I've got to tell you...she had an extremely difficult time being accepted into our family after their marriage.

You would think that the difficulties in being accepted would have naturally come from my biological mothers side of the family, having lost their daughter and then watching another woman walk in; taking over the care of their grandchildren.

But amazingly enough, they immediately welcomed her with open arms and treated her as if she was their own daughter.

However, the welcome from my fathers side of the family was a completely different story....

They basically treated her as if she didn't even exist.

They all thought that my mother was too young and had only married my father because of his financial success. I guess they assumed that if they ignored her long enough, she would just go away and their marriage would dissolve. But what's ironic, is that everyone who assumed that my parents would be divorced within a year, all ended up getting divorced themselves. And yet, it was my parents marriage that continued.

What's even more ironic, is that later in life when my father went through several financial hardships, my mother loyally stood beside him and picked up the shattered pieces.

Not only did she have difficulties with her new in-laws, but she also had tremendous challenges with her three new children.

We all gave my mother a very rough time.

We resented her and did everything in our power to make sure she knew it.

We resisted anything she asked of us.

We retaliated by doing everything in complete opposition.

Here was a 22 year old woman, who had walked into a marriage with three resentful children and a set of in-laws who wanted nothing to do with her, yet trying her best to be a good mother and having no support.

And my father, for as wonderful a husband and father that he was in many ways, never confronted his children or family about giving my mother the respect she deserved.

However, being the type of person that she is, she persisted...and never gave up on us.

And when everything else she tried to say or do, failed, she gave the only thing she could give in silence....love.

And it was that love, which eventually broke through and softened our resistant hearts.

I have a lot to be grateful for in having this special lady come into my life.

Not only did she provide me with a wonderful childhood, but she was/is the perfect example of the power of a mother's love.

She took a situation that was heavily wrinkled in creases and lovingly ironed them out.

So, thank you...

...and Happy Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful ladies!

Have a great weekend everyone!

X