Bird Droppings May 9, 2010
A mother is……… a poem

I do not recall my birth so it is difficult to say anything actually significant other than from my own mothers and fathers perception. Somewhere I have a photo of my father at the doorway looking in while my mother is holding me. It seems back in the day fathers were not allowed in to the delivery and or holding areas. I was slow in coming into the world a procrastinator, still am as far as I know. It would several years later than can recall bits and pieces of my early childhood. Most has been filled in listening to stories from my parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

“If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?” Milton Berle

So what is a mother? I think by definition it is that organism that bestows and or continues through replication that given life form. Granted in higher function animals mother has additional significance in that it seems the higher the functioning of the end organism the less able is the offspring to survive without its mother. Some birds and all mammals produce nutrients for their offspring. IN some organisms mother gives birth and or lays eggs and leaves never to see her offspring again. Various invertebrates and even in some vertebrates mother may make a meal of her children if they come too close. But is that really what a mother is?

“A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.” Washington Irving

Giving life too and nurturing the offspring both definitive aspects of a mother. There are days while teaching and ion parent meetings in dealing with some parents that I think that was all it was about in regards to motherhood. “I gave birth to you and fed you and you are on your own now.” Watching the news this morning several killings in metro Atlanta and each had mothers being interviewed by the media. What a horrific way to celebrate Mother’s Day. Yesterday I was at Rockdale County Hospital and a line of County Sheriffs and Police stood outside the emergency room. One of their own had gone to a house to serve a warrant. As he searched the house he noticed a closet door shut and movement. He called to suspect he had an arrest warrant and the suspect opened fire from inside the closet, killing the sheriff. A young man died leaving two children and a wife who are now alone due to someone not wanting to go back to prison. The suspect died as three other sheriffs opened fire. Both the Sheriff and suspect had mothers who are grieving today. What is a mother?

“I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” Abraham Lincoln

I can recall being called in as darkness set in for diner up in Pennsylvania where I grew up. My mother would call out for us to come home from our favorite place to play “the jungle” a tangle of vines, sassafras and sumac no more than a hundred feet long and fifty wide at its largest. Our family grew up around my mother who cared for us and raised us as she felt was best. My father traveled extensively and when he was home family time was there on Fisherville Road quite an activity. There was always something going on. My mother encouraged us to read, to learn, to think and to try and understand the world around us. My mother set an example in every moment of her life as to how she felt we should try and live.

“Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together.” Pearl S. Buck

Now nearly thirty three years ago I married and my wife and I have shared three wonderful sons. Each time she was in the delivery room I was there holding her hand, running to get a diet coke, or hopefully giving moral support. We were fortunate that each of our sons has grown to adulthood, a few bumps and bruises along the way but all have or soon will be through college and in professional life. For me mother’s day was each birthday of my sons. Granted today is a special day set up by legislators to honor all mothers. But I recall each time we went to the hospital and each of my sons as they came into the world. What is a mother?

“The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.” Honoré de Balzac

Not too many years I recall in farming and watching a momma sheep bond with her lambs, or cow, or horse. Each animal has a special way they bond and literally become one. Emperor penguins leave their young on an ice shelf and march to the sea to feed after eggs hatch many miles over ice and rock. When they return thousands of baby penguins and they find their own. Even in reptile the mighty crocodiles listen attentively as the eggs begin to hatch and carry their babies to the water for protection. Momma croc even stays nearby to ward of predators so babies can get a head start on life. What is a mother?

“When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.” Sophia Loren

It has been a year of trials and tribulations. So often on a daily basis a child will call home with often a simple request, please put gas money in my account or how do you cut a angle on a board? I enjoy and I know my wife does when all of our sons are home at the same time. It seems the times get fewer as they grow and have jobs taking them all over. It has been nearly ten years since I jokingly told my sons I did not want to be a grandfather until I was sixty. I watch my wife as we go to our family get together’s smiling at our grand nieces and nephews scurrying around. Grandparents have all the fun of the kids but get to send them home after they get tired. What is a mother?

“Grown don’t mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What’s that suppose to mean? In my heart it don’t mean a thing.” Toni Morrison, Beloved, 1987

So for today I give thanks for a special day, one to remember mothers no matter how you define and or perceive that term. I am so very thankful for my mother and for my son’s mother as we journey further in our lives. As always please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts. A special thought for all the mothers with sons and daughters overseas in harm’s way. This is a hard day for them.
namaste
bird

PS. I wish I had written this but I will borrow

My mother is a poem
I’ll never be able to write,
though everything I write
is a poem to my mother.
Sharon Doubiago