A Mother’s Day Story
3 min read
“Mother is the name of God on the lips and hearts of all children” – William Makepiece
In this life, there are very few common threads that connect us all. We all breathe, we all cry, we all dream, we all die…and at some time we were all given life by our mothers. And there, once again, the similarities end.
Our mothers are our best friends and, sadly in some cases, our worst enemies. They were gone too soon and around too much. They were demure and they were obnoxious. They were our model in life and our reason to find a new path. No two stories are the same – and this one is no different.
In the fall of 1972, a mother was told that she was pregnant. It was a surprise to say the least, as the aging parents already had a nine-year-old son who possessed a character so…”strong”…that the decision was made years earlier to make him an only child. Any feelings of hope however were quickly dashed as the doctor announced that the pregnancy was ectopic and could not be carried to term.
The doctors wanted to go in at that time and terminate the pregnancy before any irreparable damage could take place but the mother wouldn’t let them. Against all medical advice and the desire of a loving husband who feared losing his wife she simply said no – because she was going to have a son.
For weeks, she endured the physical and mental pain of her situation with nothing to hold on to but the faith of a promise made in the stillness of her heart when, for no known reason at all, the growing egg in her fallopian tube came loose, traveled into her womb, and re-implanted itself into her uterine wall.
What should have been a cause for celebration turned into another fatal drama as the medical community assured her that what happened was so rare and unheard of that the continued pregnancy would surely result in a stillborn or defect-ridden child and would, as stated before, result in the certain death of the 39-year-old mother. The only viable solution was to end the pregnancy. But the mother said no – because she was going to have a son.
I can’t imagine what the mother must have endured for those remaining months, alone in the belief that her choice was the only possible one. She was confined to her bed and eventually suffered partial paralysis and blindness in one eye yet she remained steadfast in the conviction that she would have a son.
I was born on July 5, 1973, perfect in every way (though my Bride may question my mental stability at times). My mom returned to full health as well shortly after. This Mother’s Day, I’ll watch her play with my own daughters and I won’t be able to help thinking that the scene wouldn’t exist without that stubborn, old biddy holding to a promise almost thirty seven years ago.
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.
