A TRIBUTE TO THE MOMS OF THE WORLD

The newlywed wife said to her husband when he returned from work, "I have great news for you. Pretty soon, we're going to be three in this house instead of two."

Her husband ran to her with a smile on his face and delight in his eyes.

He was glowing of happiness and kissing his wife when she said, "I'm glad that you feel this way since tomorrow morning, my mother moves in with us."

Today’s blog begins with an apology to all of the mothers in the world. How could I have been so careless as to write about a father’s role in our life, and completely have neglected to honor our mothers on Mother’s Day?

It is no wonder that I did not sleep well for the past month; my wonderful late mother, Marion Otis, and my remarkable Bubbie, Minnie Goldberg, were punishing me for such an oversight. And, while I never knew my paternal grandmother, Sarah Otis, I am certain she was right there with them.

I first became aware of the incredibly difficult task a mother plays in our lives in the late 1930’s, when America began to prepare for WWII. While my father’s role in an essential industry kept him out of the military, most of the men in our family and all others as well were being drafted. This left big voids in the care of families, as well as in the labor market - roles that had to be filled by mothers and grandmothers.

I watched as my mother went back to work, leaving early each morning after getting us off to school, returning at dinner time and helping Grandma get us ready for dinner, helping us with our homework and getting us ready for bed,

In addition, Mom had to take work breaks to get us to doctor’s appointments when we were ill, in need of various vaccinations and other child raising necessities.

In today’s world, while Dad does help with many of those chores, it is Mom who not only has to work to help pay the high cost of living, education and healthcare, as well as the growth of one parent families ... the additional burdens she carries are increasingly difficult.

And, in addition to all of this, our moms are faced with the increasingly difficult task of caring for their aging parents and our grandmothers who, if they are lucky enough to be in reasonably in good health, take care of their mates who themselves are dealing with memory or other physical problems.

So all of us, including the mates of these wonderful women who carry such a larger burden, and all of us including their husbands, need to shout a big "Thank You!" and find other ways to demonstrate appreciation for the efforts they make to see that we have a good life.

Finally, a word of advice. Please make an effort to forgive our moms if they don’t always see the world as we do; after all, you may be a mom some day.

“The mother–child relationship is paradoxical and, in a sense, tragic. It requires the most intense love on the mother’s side, yet this very love must help the child grow away from the mother and to become fully independent.”

Erich Fromm

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