A mother's love

Many people in the world say they love and like us. Our friends say they like us, our spouses and children say they love us but none of their love compares to the love of our mother. The mother who was pregnant with us for nine months and went through different stages of pains and weaknesses during pregnancy. She held us close since we were born, weaned us and helped us with our first steps and stayed up all night when we cried as babies and when we would get colds and fevers. She hoped that she could take on those pains and spare us from them, she would greet us with a smile and we loved to see that warm smile. She gave up all her dreams, whether it was to work, graduate from university or get employed with her new degree so she could be there for us when we called her. She was patient each time we tried to shut her out and said that she did not understand what we were going through. She worried when we used such words and hoped everything was okay and prayed that we would be okay. She celebrated when we graduated high school, got our first job, our drivers licence, when we graduated from university and got married, knowing that we were fulfilling our hopes and dreams.

We have taken away from her her young and beautiful face, her flowery youth, everything she hoped to accomplish but could not because of us and we repaid her with, NOTHING. We never said thank you for everything she has done, we barely even recognize them. We never thought of helping her out when she got fatigued, we preferred to hang out with our friends and chat on social media. We saw her annoying and trespassing on our personal things, we see her old and as someone who has no class and hate when we feel she is embarrassing us. We ridicule her when she gets slang saying wrongs and pronounces them funny, we love her when she gets us what we want and hate her when she doesn’t. When we marry, our spouses mean more to us than her, we rarely visit her and hug her like we used to when we were little.

You hear stories of neglect to mothers and how such a woman who sacrificed everything for us is cast away. We don’t even treat those we hate in the manner we treat her and one story particularly gets the heart.

A man went with his kids, wife and mother to a jewellery store so his wife could buy herself some jewellery. His wife began wondering around the store, picking all the earrings, bracelets and necklaces she licked while the frail mother trailed along with no one paying any attention to her. When the man was going to pay for his wife’s jewellery, the man behind the counter told him that he also had to pay for this ring that was picked out also. Apparently the ring was picked out by the mother because she liked it, when the man paid and everyone went back to the car, the most devastating thing occurred. The man looked at his mother and yelled at her like if he was yelling to someone he was in a fight with and said, ‘How could you pick out a ring without my consent’ and threw it at her. The reply of the mother touches anyone’s heart as she picked up the ring and said with a calm and loving voice, ‘O son, if thing ring has caused you so much pain I do not want it’. She could not and did not want to have something that caused her son sadness and anger while he had no self-dignity and yelled at his mother in front of his kids and wife. He favoured people who are new into his and is not known for how long they will stay, you spouse can leave you and demand a divorce and your kids can chuck you away but your mother never will. If the whole world hates you her arms are still open, she will never shut you out if you go to her because if a calamity strikes you, your friends will leave, your spouse may eventually leave, colleagues will abandon you but she never will. Even if you hurt her, made her cry, she will always forgive you and welcome you back. That why the prophet said when a man came to him and asked,

 ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the worthiest of my good companionship? The Prophet said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?' The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?' The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?' The Prophet said: Then your father.’

This shows that our love for our parents has been divided into four parts and three of them go to our mothers, that is because she will do anything for us. People may hate her, she may get divorced, lose her job but never give her children up, she would prefer to perish with them than to see them upset. We see her smile but she carries pain and tears inside that she would want us to worry about and when was the last time we gave her a hug and said I love you, when did we take her out to see the places she loved to see or take her out to dinner. We do these things for everyone around us but not her, most people do it only on mother’s day. Your mother sacrificed so much and she is only worth on day of the year while everyone around us gets our whole life. O mother, you have done so much but we neglect you, forget you and remember you one time of the year, when were you worth that much. When were you disgraced to such a level but our kids, spouses, colleagues and friends get us any time of the year. We chuck you into a place of neglect, where all mothers like you are put and it has been given sweet name to lessen the pain, retirement home. When did you retire, you never did, when you wanted to sleep you stood up standing, when you were crying you dried your tears so we never saw them and your abode becomes a small room among other thrown out unwanted mothers and parents. You never put us in an orphanage when we were born so you could continue with your hopes and dreams, rather you chucked your dreams away drew us close.

A mother’s love is impossible to match, no one can meet it and will never meet it and that is why it is time for us to sit beside her and say thank you. Thank you for everything and say those words that have left our tongues and teach it to say, Mother, I love you. 

Happy readings and if your mom is beside you, hug her and tell her how much she means to you.