My Mom
I was raised by a single mom. She happens to be the best mother in the world, and my sister concurs. We're pretty sure we're unbiased. Mom's simply an angel.
Mom stayed married to dad until I was 15 and my sister was 10. Dad cheated on mom constantly with a never-ending stream of women. He gave her lots of STDs. In some ways he was a great man, but morally he was a snake. Mom dealt with this for her children; she wanted us to grow up as a family. And, we did.
Dad lived & worked in the city, 2 hours away. We lived in the country and he visited us on weekends. Although mom & dad were technically married, dad was around less than the average non-custodial divorced father. So even though mom was technically married until I was 15, she raised us as a single mother all of our lives.
When mom finally divorced dad, she moved us to a college town where she worked her way through school while dealing with being a single mother to a teenage son and a pre-teen daughter. Dad never paid a penny of child support; she took care of us on her own while working part-time and being a full-time student. I cannot conceive of how she did this while retaining her sanity, but she did it. Like I said, she's the best mom in the entire world.
There are lots of accomplishments that I could list for my mom. But what I think made her great can be condensed a bit.
She put her kids first, always. She sacrificed everything she could sacrifice without losing herself - fidelity in marriage being the most amazing sacrifice that I saw. She sacrificed arguing with dad; I only ever once saw them fight. That's because both of them made it a high priority to keep their conflicts away from their kids' awareness. She sacrificed happiness gained from a romantic relationship. She sacrificed oceans of time and energy.
Mom gave up all kinds of things, but I believe they were repaid by the purest adoration kids have ever bestowed upon a mother. I think she's satisfied with what she offered up, and I know that my sister and I are more grateful than we can possibly express. Mom gave us a wonderful life that was absolutely saturated with her presence. She gave us nurturing and love even though she didn't have a source to replenish it. I have no doubt that her faith in God enabled her to draw from reserves that would have been otherwise unavailable to her.
One of the things I most love about my mom is her music. She loved to sing; she sang in every choir she could find. When she wasn't singing she whistled, or hummed. It was rare to be in mom's presence without music being present. She brightened lives around her with her music and she shaped our world.
I love my mom fiercely; almost as much as I love my kids. Very nearly every good thing about me came directly from her. She walked a terribly lonely road while putting her kids first, and I'm really happy to be eternally in her debt. The only payments I can make against that debt is to be the best dad I can be to her grandchildren.
Mom stayed married to dad until I was 15 and my sister was 10. Dad cheated on mom constantly with a never-ending stream of women. He gave her lots of STDs. In some ways he was a great man, but morally he was a snake. Mom dealt with this for her children; she wanted us to grow up as a family. And, we did.
Dad lived & worked in the city, 2 hours away. We lived in the country and he visited us on weekends. Although mom & dad were technically married, dad was around less than the average non-custodial divorced father. So even though mom was technically married until I was 15, she raised us as a single mother all of our lives.
When mom finally divorced dad, she moved us to a college town where she worked her way through school while dealing with being a single mother to a teenage son and a pre-teen daughter. Dad never paid a penny of child support; she took care of us on her own while working part-time and being a full-time student. I cannot conceive of how she did this while retaining her sanity, but she did it. Like I said, she's the best mom in the entire world.
There are lots of accomplishments that I could list for my mom. But what I think made her great can be condensed a bit.
She put her kids first, always. She sacrificed everything she could sacrifice without losing herself - fidelity in marriage being the most amazing sacrifice that I saw. She sacrificed arguing with dad; I only ever once saw them fight. That's because both of them made it a high priority to keep their conflicts away from their kids' awareness. She sacrificed happiness gained from a romantic relationship. She sacrificed oceans of time and energy.
Mom gave up all kinds of things, but I believe they were repaid by the purest adoration kids have ever bestowed upon a mother. I think she's satisfied with what she offered up, and I know that my sister and I are more grateful than we can possibly express. Mom gave us a wonderful life that was absolutely saturated with her presence. She gave us nurturing and love even though she didn't have a source to replenish it. I have no doubt that her faith in God enabled her to draw from reserves that would have been otherwise unavailable to her.
One of the things I most love about my mom is her music. She loved to sing; she sang in every choir she could find. When she wasn't singing she whistled, or hummed. It was rare to be in mom's presence without music being present. She brightened lives around her with her music and she shaped our world.
I love my mom fiercely; almost as much as I love my kids. Very nearly every good thing about me came directly from her. She walked a terribly lonely road while putting her kids first, and I'm really happy to be eternally in her debt. The only payments I can make against that debt is to be the best dad I can be to her grandchildren.
Labels: mom
posted by Scott | 3:23 PM
1 Comments:
I posted this as a response to a request for articles to submit to a single-parent magazine. That's why it reads more like an article and less like a spammy Scott-ramble. :)
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