Most of you have either met or know my mother Sandee Chase from her 20 years at The Potpourri House. Well, I’ve known her for a few years more, my whole life in fact which only amounts to an additional 15 years. I have never known a day without her and I count myself impossibly blessed.
During my teen years we had a few rough patches. I vaguely remember the echo of my overflowing emotions and how confused I was as I matured from a child into a woman. What is bright and distinct in my mind is my mother’s steadfastness. We would fight. Loudly. And I’m positive I hurled more than one “you just don’t understand me”s at her, but no matter what, she would always stand in the gap with me when I needed her.
Needless to say, growing up is difficult. We don’t get the luxury of hiding away in a cocoon for our ‘ugly’ inbetween phase. There is no time jump like in the movies where suddenly the duckling is a swan, there is simply life lived in its linear fashion. A mother, a very good one, eases that process. She makes life colorful and vibrant when it would seem otherwise so grey or all red. What can I say, I had a very short fuse as a teen. She never backed down and always knew exactly what I needed to hear even if it wasn’t something easy to say.
Just recently, a family member told my mother I was severely stressed, which is no wonder since I’m in graduate school and life is mostly a series of everlooming due dates and tests. As she does, my mother took matters into her own hands. She took me from my computer for a few hours of pampering, aka lunch, dessert, and a pedicure with all the extras like a foot and calf massage. It was only a few hours, but it was like I could see again. The waters of my drowning stress receding enough so I could tackle the next set of college requirements.
The beautiful thing is good mothers are all around us. I have no children, but I consider myself a mother to my baby brothers (I bet they hate it! Hahaha! ) and even a younger girl who lost her own mother as a child. The recipe for a good mother is relatively simple, it only takes a few ingredients after all: a warm heart, a little time, and a bunch of love. Of course, while they make it look simple, good mothers work so hard. Don’t forget to take a few hours this coming Mother’s Day to honor and love on yours. I know I am.
“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
-Proverbs 31:26: