GOOD MOTHERS
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Sunday afternoon was Mother’s Afternoon. I dined with a maybe-someday- mother (granddaughter Becky) and Becky’s mother, Paula and Paula’s mother, June…and assorted fathers and fathers-who-may-someday-be. Later, I saw our neighbor, Katie, on the occasion of her first Mother’s Day as a mother, talked with another maybe-someday-mother (granddaughter Jessica), and with two current mothers, wife Liz and daughter Margaret, plus neighbor Robert, who’s about to marry a maybe-someday-mother, and I heard the musical voices of other someday-mothers and current-day mothers, and I thought about all the mothers I’ve known who are no longer around but ever present in memory most precious.
And I thought about all the kinds of mothers there must be in our town, including motherless mothers, mothers who’ve lost their children, mothers whose children have been taken from them, mothers of mothers, absentee mothers, mysterious mothers, mothers who are always there, stepmothers,
adoptive mothers, adopted mothers, mothers in name only, clueless mothers,
clumsy mothers, mothers we wish we had known better, mothers we know only too well, highfalutin’ mothers, humble mothers, welfare mothers, imprisoned mothers, hugging mothers, distant and cool mothers, dream mothers, dreamy mothers, mothers we would give anything to see again,
creative mothers, mothers who do what they can do, just for us, brilliant mothers, caretaker mothers, sacrificing mothers, storybook mothers, protective mothers, biological mothers, test-tube mothers, guardian mothers,
only-in-their-imagination mothers, good-pal mothers, uplifting mothers,
grandmothers, great grandmothers, mothers both great and grand, foster mothers, stand-in mothers, well-meaning mothers, wanna-be mothers, to-be mothers, long-gone mothers, faraway mothers, gentle mothers, good example mothers, gay mothers, straight mothers, not-quite-sure mothers, surrogate mothers, black mothers, brown mothers, red mothers, pale pink mothers,
pasty complexioned mothers, mothers we wish we had, mothers we wish we had back, fathers and grandfathers who serve as mothers, mothers on bail,
disenfranchised mothers, hospitalized mothers, mothers in nursing homes, and
mothers who take the time
.
In a way, I love them all, mainly because we never appreciate them enough and they never feel they give enough.
I just want them to know that I thought about them for a few special moments, that I wish them well for all they’ve done or hoped to do for us, their babies old and young
(c) 2010 A.D. by Jim Reed
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