
As he lay sleepless in his bedroom in the late night, he heard the commotion in the house. Family and friends had arrived and Mom was busy with them. The young fellow couldn't understand how composed she was, seemingly untouched by a death that he found devastating. How can she be acting so normal? Did she really not love his dad? He quickly tried to drove those thoughts out of his mind but they lingered hauntingly in the background.
Three days later after the crowd was gone and the funeral was over, the little guy was now numb. He didn't know how he would ever be able to go on since his soldier father was his hero. That night as he lay in bed still trying to find a way to sleep, he listened to the sounds of the empty house. He heard a very soft sobbing sound barely entering his room. He arose quietly in his bare feet and tiptoed out into the second floor hallway. Listening intently, he realized the sound was coming from his mother's room.
He quietly approached the door and knocked softly. Her strained voice said, "Just a minute, I'll be right there."
Momentarily, she opened the door and he asked her if she was okay. He could tell from the redness of her eyes and the pained expression on her face that she had been crying.
"Have you been crying, Mom", he gently asked.
She just pulled him close to her chest in a motherly hug and shook her head yes and really began to cry. He looked up at her and told her he loved her and that crying was okay and that he was afraid that she didn't miss him before.
"Oh, son, of course I loved you father", she responded. "It's just that I thought I needed to be strong for you kids. After all, I kinda' have the role of mother and father now."
"Mom, don't worry about that. We're gonna' help you because we love you and we are family".
Just then she looked at the calendar and realized that tomorrow would be Mother's Day. She hadn't even thought of it until just this moment. And she knew right now that despite the pain and struggle that she was facing now that she was still the luckiest mother in the world.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY EVERYONE! Whatever your stage of life, all mother's have the central role of keeping the home fires burning. Whether your children are grown, at the cantankerous teenage stage, or still small and learning how to live by what you do, you are important to them always. God bless you all.