Every holiday has its particular vocabulary, every special event its significant greeting. For example: December 31st of any year ushers in the bells and whistles that accompany shouts of "Happy New Year". Red roses, bows and cupids whisper "Happy Valentine's Day" while "Merry Christmas" carols and greetings emerge the morning after Halloween merchandise is taken off retailers' shelves. This weekend it's time to voice our words of thanks to Mom. Or at least, for some folks it is.
Sadly, not everybody had the privilege of knowing a mom who loved and cared for her offspring. For others, memories of mom are filled with thoughts of abuse or neglect; others were orphaned and never knew the nurturing care of a mother. We were blessed in having a mom who loved and supported us every day of our lives. It's not quite a year since she passed away and the thing I miss most is our daily phone calls.
"Chin up," was one expression I often heard from her lips, while "better times ahead," was a variation of her famous "better days coming" statement of encouragement.
While those are the expressions that immediately came to my siblings' minds when I asked them what they recalled Mom telling us, there are other universal phrases attributed to moms, including ours: "Call me when you get there, just so I know you're okay," is one habit I still practice. "Think of those poor starving children in India...or China" (Mom's country of choice was Korea), always accompanied food we balked at eating.
It was her unspoken messages I remember most, though: give people the benefit of the doubt, don't give up and above all, remember you can always depend on God's love.
"As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you." (Isaiah 66:13)
Thank You, Lord! Thank you, Mom!
