Mothers: the power of love

As it turns out, the only thing better than having “the best mom in the world” is having “the very best mom in the world”! When we asked about your favourite bragging story about your mom, the superlatives began to flow: super, awesome, angelic, precious, amazing, fantastic, inspirational. One daughter commented that she would’ love to write a book about her mother but wouldn’t know how to start or end it and would just go on and on about this “sweet fantastic person” that she was “lucky enough to have as my mother.”

Wow. What were all these superlatives about? Sometimes it was about the impressive array of skills. While the top two were cooking and baking skills, mothers were also praised as sewers, quilters, knitters, gardeners, embroiderers, trappers and leaders.

Mothers as hard workers

Daughters often expressed a recognition and appreciation of their mothers as hard workers. Life wasn’t always easy. Daughters referred to hard times, poverty, raising up to 10 children, being a single mom, and living for survival. Mothers were the proverbial role models for their daughters, who referred to being taught about strength, courage and bravery, how to be independent, having a strong faith, learning to laugh at things, and being respectful.

Some of these skills struck me as more common to a certain generation of women and mothers. It would be interesting to know how many of these skills have been handed down. How many women these days know how to embroider, or make a quilt, for example? I wonder how many homes have a sewing machine.  I have to confess. I can barely sew on a button myself! It will be fascinating to see what skills the next generation of daughters will be bragging about.

Unconditional love

What undoubtedly does transcend all generations and ages is the power of love. The feeling of being unconditionally loved by mothers was expressed with a matching love and gratitude by many daughters. One daughter shared that her mom’s unconditional love “made life beautiful to live”. Another referred to her mom as someone who “loves us fiercely”. Another daughter shared “we never had a lot but we all had love.”

Love comes in many forms. Daughters noticed and appreciated their mothers’ “goodness”, “kindness”, “generosity”, and this was often extended beyond the immediate family. There was, as one daughter described it, “room at the table for all who dropped by”. Another referred to her mother as being “kind and generous to everyone without being walked on.” Another daughter recalled that her mom “was a mom to everyone and loved by everyone”.

I know. These women may sound like proverbial saints. While reading daughters heartfelt praises for their mothers, I was constantly reminded of Maya Angelou’s famous quote:

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

The truth of this was revealed in daughters’ reflections of the impact their mothers have had. I love that we can have a specific day to spur on these reflections. Thank you to all who shared.

Shouldn’t every day be Mother’s Day?