A Mother’s Day Story
Featured in the Dayton Daily News
True story: A young professional woman anxiously awaited the exam results from the professional test she took a few weeks prior. Her anticipation was particularly nail biting because her first attempt at the comprehensive law exam was unsuccessful. The past months were intense with refocused study habits and renewed determination.
On the day of result posting, she awoke early. It was 7 am, and the young lawyer knew her scores would be available. Opening up her computer, she saw the notification. There, for the second time, she did not pass. Dejection overcame her. She texted her mom with profound disappointment. Most likely she wanted to crawl back into bed and allow herself to wallow. But before she could succumb to a day-long bout with defeat, a “ping” resonated from her cell phone. The reply from her mom simply said, “Look out your window.”
Standing just below the window of the second-floor apartment was the young woman’s mom holding a bouquet of flowers and a home decorated poster board. It read, “I’m sorry! There are no words to make it better, BUT there is coffee! Let’s go get some.” The mom made the pre-dawn 90-minute drive to her daughter’s apartment not knowing what the exam results would be. She came equipped with two prepared signs; one appropriate for congratulations, and one meant to begin the jumpstart towards healing. Either way, this mom knew she wanted to be with her daughter. She showed up for duty.
I love this story because it exemplifies the vast breadth of a mother’s love. Mothers are perpetually in tune to the 180-degree range of whatever their kids need the most. Sometimes it means stepping back, allowing her children to rise up and gain confidence on their own. Sometimes it’s tough love. Sometimes it means repeating the mantra of belief in hopes that somehow, they’re kids hear the whispers of support that being loved can offer. And sometimes, it means showing up on a tough morning with a home-made sign and invitation for coffee.
All moms at some point wish for that magic wand ability to fix all things for her children. But that desire to make everything better just isn’t possible. Probably if given a choice, we wouldn’t want to deny our kids the ability to find their own way. In a perfect world, they would succeed the first time in passing exams, finding love, or seamlessly figuring out their place in this big world. But life just doesn’t work that way. Every mom experiences a heart happiness that is only as content as her unhappiest child.
Perhaps that mother standing outside the window at 7 am was tempted to lose heart out of sadness. I can only imagine the deep breath she took in that nanosecond between the heartbreak for her daughter and the charge to rise up. She didn’t recoil; rather she lifted her prepared sign in hopes her love would somehow empower her child towards something greater; something that would help her daughter know love could help her move forward, even in the midst of such a tough day.
Mothers own the patent on how unpretentious meets magnificence. As we celebrate all phases of being a mom, let us never forget the power of those loving moments that will never make the headlines, but will imprint the trajectory of our children’s lives with pure goodness. Happy Mother’s Day to you all.
Anne Marie is author of the book, Just Give Me the Road