Kakahead

When writing about something as important as Mother’s Day, the task pretty much mandates a little research.  Alright, maybe it’s not a mandate. But as I sat staring at the title that jumped out of my keyboard and onto the page, I couldn’t help being curious about where all this Mother’s Day stuff originated.  Turns out there have been several holidays over the eons devoted to mothers; dating back perhaps thousands of years.

Here in the US, the holiday as we now know it was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908.  Her efforts resulted in President Woodrow Wilson proclaiming it a national holiday in 1914.  Unfortunately, the occasion quickly became commercially “interesting” to merchandisers; to the chagrin of Ms. Jarvis.  Even she reportedly began to refer to Mother’s Day as a “Hallmark Holiday.”

Even so, God knows there is no more deserving soul to be honored than Mom.  Your Mom, my Mom, Mother Nature, and so on.  In the case of me and my siblings; I’m amazed that our mother made it through the ordeal of raising the four of us without completely going bonkers.   We grew up in the late 50s and through the 60s, where Dad was “king of the castle” and Mom was the keeper of the household.  In other words, Dad earned the money and Mom did the best she could to keep us fed and clothed.   Considering some of the “challenges” my Dad introduced into that equation she did a remarkable job.

Mom was the cook, bottle washer, laundry attendant and mending master.  She knew how to comfort us when we were sad; and she knew how to put us in our place when we acted up.  We were raised on Long Island, New York during a time when “The Honeymooners” was still on TV.  Even if you didn’t live in Brooklyn, people were not afraid to yell to get their point across.  I once had a fond remembrance of when the four of us were driving her nuts; and Mom shouted, “YOUSE GODDAMN KIDS!!”   When I mentioned it to my mother many years later, she quickly replied, “I never said that!!”

Of course not.

Anyway, she raised us the best she knew how.  Did a darn good job of it too.   Although she was not really the touchy-feely type; we knew that she loved us and would do anything in her power to make life better for us.

She must have been heart broken when I ran off with “that girl.”  At the time, that was how Dad referred to my beautiful girlfriend.  Relations with my Dad were usually tense, so leaving home seemed like the natural next step.  I joined the Air Force and was married to my sweetie all in the course of a year after graduation from high school.  It would be many years before I would really understand how difficult it had to be for both of them.   My lovely wife and I raised a daughter and son and we get restless if we don’t see them for a week, much less a year or more.

Mom did the best she knew how.  She was the product of a generation where the woman bowed to the husband, regardless of how deep the BS puddle became.  We didn’t tell each other “I love you.”  There was very little hugging, and if Dad was around, whatever you do, don’t cry “or I’ll give you something to cry about.”   Deep down, however, we knew we were loved, albeit the methods at time seemed a bit harsh.

Just like any new parents, my beautiful wife and I were determined to “do a better job than our parents did.”   The words “I love you” were uttered every day, often multiple times.  We had plenty of hugs to go around, plenty of time spent.  And when I would get up on my high horse, my lovely wife would get a stick and knock me down from there.   Well OK not literally, but you get the idea.  I probably presented the same “challenges” into our new family that my Dad interjected into family life when we were being raised.  One thing for sure, if you are interested in growing up, try having kids!

My Mom and Dad have both been gone for several years.   Dad and I managed to patch things up before he left this life, thank God.  And Mom did her best to cope with losing the love of her life until she finally left also.  Funny how things evolve… as of this writing I can honestly say that I’ve learned to flush the bad memories and cherish the good ones.

So to my Mom, and to my lovely Wife Mom, and now to our daughter who’s also a Mom, and to all the Mothers in the Universe:

THANK YOU.  GOD BLESS YOU.  I LOVE YOU.

So there.

Here’s a cute video I found that pretty much sums up a day in the life of Mom.