220508 Sentinel, Mothers

One thing we all have in common is the fact that we all have a mother.
We also have a man involved in our conception but in some cases we may not know the father. I know my dad.

If we don't know our father, it could be because of in vitro fertilization, or a one night stand that resulted in our conception. Not all mothers are equal. Some love and raise their children, some do not. Joyce was a loving and nurturing mother as was her mother and my mother. We both hit the jackpot with our mothers and I hope that your mother was/is a good, no, a great one! We both had great fathers too. Not everyone is that lucky.
Every mother starts out young and beautiful and as the years go by they may have more children and every child delivered takes a toll on her body, a price she is willing to pay for her brood. Every mother eventually gets old and often requires assistance from the children she bore. Joyce and I took care of her mother when she needed help. We offered to take in my mother too, but she stayed in her apartment with my brother and sisters nearby to help her. That shocked and saddened me and Joyce that she did not choose to come with us, but it was not for us to decide.
As I look at this piece it may seem a bit on the sad side, it’s not meant to be that, but more simply factual.
I’ll shift gears here and focus on Joyce. Joyce only had one child, but she was everyone’s earth mother. What I mean by that is this, people gravitated to her, friends, family members and even strangers (some very strange). People seemed to recognise something in Joyce and sought her counsel. Joyce never refused anyone, even those who wronged her, hurt her deeply and used her. Two family members in particular, whose names I will not mention broke Joyce’s heart. Sadly Joyce did not have any Irish in her like I do. Those two, I wrote their names in my book and then crossed a line through those names. I have the Irish in me to do that. I’m not as gracious as Joyce was. The older I get, the more names go down in my book. It’s not something to be proud of, but it’s my way. I don’t hate any living soul, but I no longer associate with those in my book. I still pray for their souls, but I am not their redeemer, only the Lord has that good grace.
Many in my age group have lost their mothers to time as I have, but on this mother’s day we can still celebrate them for the wonderful women they were. Today is my first mother’s day without Joyce and no doubt it will be the saddest mother’s day ever for me. I pray those of you younger folks can appreciate the mothers you have and celebrate with them on this day. As for me, I’ll soon be having a cold refreshing lager to improve my mood. Later today I will see my son-in-law, my daughter (who is a wonderful mom) and my granddaughter, three people whom I love. They and my neohew Patrick and his love Kristy and my sister Mar and her husband Steve are the ones I haave left to love in this life.
God is great, beer is good and people are crazy.