Mother's Day

I'm not going to name my mother, my wife, or my older daughter--see guideline 3. I'm not going to tell you where they live, for the same reason. But I am grateful to all three of them.

My mother's 95th birthday was on the 4th, 4 days ago. She needs some help, but she still lives alone, and mostly takes care of herself. She still teaches other people to make rugs, of a kind she invented herself, using castoff coats, and makes them herself. Here is a sample, made during 1999:

She and her husband, my father, (See Feb 27, 2005 post) raised four sons. She did her best to care for my father, until it was necessary to place him in a nursing home. She went to see him nearly every day, until he passed away, in 1991. She still goes to the nursing home, when she can get someone to take her (which she usually can) to play the piano and read Bible stories to the people who live there. She also does Bible study in her home.

My wife (See Feb 27, 2005 post) is the mother of our two children. She quit work when both of them were born, and took care of them both for the first few years of their lives. She, like me, is retiring this year. Her retirement would have been at a higher pay level if she hadn't kept the girls at home. She is still very concerned about them, prays for them, and talks to them on the phone, and e-mails. She took time off to fly to another state to help our older daughter take care of our grandchild, for the first few days after his birth.

Our older daughter is a good mother. She has a job, and can't quit it to stay home. This concerns her deeply, as she wants to do her best, as a mother, and on the job. Many women are like her. It's a tough balancing act. She loves our grandchild. She and her husband are doing a good job of caring for him. She also tries to do lots of other things. I don't think, for example, that she has ever missed recognizing a birthday for anyone closer than a second cousin.

Thank God for all three of these women. Without one, I wouldn't be here. Without one, my life would be much different, and much worse. Without the other, my life would have been much less interesting.

I also honor our younger daughter (see April 8, 2005 post) who is not a mother. She may be someday. She may not. Either way, that's fine.