immediate family
Blood makes you related, loyalty makes you family.
Queen Mother
My Mother was a sick person. It's true. She struggled with so many things. What they are doesn't really matter in this context. Suffice to say they were physical and mental. But never did she question who she was or what she felt her purpose was. My Mother was the color yellow. All things bright and beautiful. She struggled greatly. She conquered things most of us can never imagine, nor would we want to. She survived things that should have killed her, time and time again. Our family actually stopped counting the things she overcame, then survived. Over the span of more than 24+ years of her being ill, she showed us, her 7 children, many grandchildren and great grandchildren, loved ones, my Father, what strength is. She showed us how to not stay in the trenches. How to keep fighting. Never give up. She showed us how to be a light during the storm. She wasn't perfect. She knew it. The one thing she was is determined. None of us 7 kids wanted to learn what she had to teach us….what she insisted on teaching us. 5 girls, 2 boys, and we ALL learned how to cook, clean, basic sewing skills, ironing and physical grooming. As well as social skills needed in the world. All of it, with 7 kids. Now that we all have children, we can grasp what an enormous task that was. I have 1 kid and it seems impossible! She was absolutely determined to be happy despite pain most of us can't imagine. Determined to be joyful even when she was scared. Determined to teach her children everything they needed to know to be good humans. Determined to teach us how to live without her on this earth. For we all knew for so many years that her days were numbered. The gift was that we got so many more days than we imagined we would. In a turn of events we never could have predicted, her final battle came in the midst of Covid-19. With family spread out and quarantined, the first half of 2020 was mostly spent in a bubble with my Father, me, my teenage daughter and my sister in law so much of that time is a complete blur. Missing so much work, both from Covid and to be there to care for her. Missing so much money, lost from not working. At the time, I had no idea just how much work I missed. Funny thing is, I wouldn't change a thing. My siblings couldn't be there. We all knew it. It was torture for them. So I was there for all of them. Zooming even though she was in a coma, just so they could see her. Kissing her goodbye for my huge family...individually... singing, just being together in the only way we could. Watching her slowly fade. No funeral, no celebration of life. Somehow she was a light to the end. She is still a light. One that will never be extinguished. After her passing, it took a couple of weeks to be able to explain what I was feeling about not having her be with us anymore. I realized that the world was so silent now. She was such a presence, such a gift. If she was in the building, you knew it. When she left, the silence was so loud. So loud. It's been just over a year and it is still loud. Now our family tries our best to continue her legacy by teaching our children the way she taught us. We try and be a light, the way she was. When someone is that influential, the loss is great and the only thing you can do is do your very best to carry their legacy forward.
By Mary Queen5 years ago in Families
Closure
I have a non-traditional relationship with my mother, but not necessarily one that isn't familiar to a lot of people. When I was about a year and a half old, my mother signed her parental rights over to my maternal grandmother. This was done for a multitude of reasons, but primarily because my mother was incapable of raising me due to mental short falls caused by some incidents when she was a teenager. For a long time, I resented my mom because she gave me up but continued to go through custody battles for my younger half-siblings for years. My family would always tell me that she signed her parental rights away because she knew she was fit enough to be a good parent, and I understood that to a point. As I continued to watch from the sidelines as she was involved with my sister and brother, I grew a bit spiteful.
By Courtney Seever5 years ago in Families
Boss Moms
Mother, Mama, Mommy, Mom, Madre, Ma these are all words used to describe a significant force in our lives. Step- moms, adoptive moms, foster moms, bonus moms are all important as well. Mothers are strong, capable and usually the backbone of the family, they help when we need them, they support us and are our number one fans. Some people grow up with one influential boss mom, I grew up with many. Three in particular that helped mold me into who I am with lessons they taught me.
By Rebecca Hackney5 years ago in Families
Dear Ivy
In 1997, I was born on a stormy Friday the 13th to my mother, Ivy, short for Yvelisse. She taught me how to read and write at three years old, constantly encouraging me to ask questions and seek answers. A child with an insatiable curiosity, I absorbed every bit of knowledge that she offered me, sometimes filing it away for a time where I would later understand it. Most of my early childhood memories are comprised of my mom and I, coloring, playing computer games, reading, writing, and having morning tea over her intricate Japanese tea set. I began to develop a deep appreciation for quality time with the people I love, the budding of an expectation for quality conversations and good company.
By Sophia Carlson5 years ago in Families
Resilience
No matter what a mother is going through we always seem to manage to push through the storm to reach the sunshine. Not saying that it is easy, and the storm can be rough at times, so rough that you think you may not survive but we push and push and eventually make it through.
By Totfish’s Tales5 years ago in Families
The Unsung Hero
When I was in first grade, I wasn't paying attention one day and I slammed my pointer finger into a locker door at school. From what I can recall, there was a lot of blood and I screamed so loudly that most of the school came out of their classrooms to see what had happened. I was in a place very foreign to me as a child; my family had been recently stationed in Minnesota and it was unfamiliar territory from the life I was accustomed to in Virginia. In that moment, I was terrified. I knew only my parents in that time and place, and I was alone and almost completely without the top 1/3 of my finger.
By Courtney Bryn5 years ago in Families
My mom, the Lion
She was born the baby of the family, but that was not her true place. She never acted like a baby of the family. She acted like a survivor. Her mother taught her nothing about motherhood except what not to do. From physical abuse to verbal abuse she was not a person that I personally liked to deal with. Even with all this, she still supported her mother for over 16 years because she promised her father, the one who taught her what a parent should be like.
By Zelda Foxx5 years ago in Families
The Ballad of Lucille Edna
Mom passed away unexpectedly on July 11, 2008. She had suffered from severe angina for some time, beginning a few years after her first quadruple bypass in 1997. But her pain had now increased to the point that the nitro tablets she popped like tic-tacs no longer brought any relief.
By Pamela Darbyshire5 years ago in Families
Mom+5
I don’t know about y’all, but my mother gets the job done. Ever since she became a mother at the age 17, she has always been on grind mode. I mean, she’s a mother, a protector, a giver, and most of all an angel sent from heaven but don’t get on her bad side lol. My mother is a single mother of 5 and she has always made sacrifices to make sure me and my siblings are forever straight. It doesn't matter what it is, my mama is going to go over and beyond to make sure her kids are always happy and safe. She has molded me into the young lady that I am today. If it wasn’t for how hard she goes for her kids today, I wouldn’t have the drive and the motivation to do bigger and better things. And, I wouldn’t be able to spread this story if it wasn’t for the good Lord and the amazing mother he has blessed me with. Even though sometimes I feel like my mama can be a bit much, I know she’s only hard on me because she wants to see a brighter future for me. I couldn’t thank her enough for losing countless hours of sleep with me getting sick out of nowhere (I’m okay now) and for always motivating me to do better. She’s the reason for me living because I have always been an emotional person since a little girl, and my mother always does everything in her power to make me feel better. Not to mention, whenever I feel some random idea to help bring in more funds and need help funding it, my mother tries to always figure out a way to help me, even when she doesn’t have much. And, I pray one day that I’ll be able to pay her back financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally; simply because she always provides for her “5” no matter how old we get. I strive to be a great mother like my mother one day. Making sure my future kids will be able to witness and endure the amazing love my mother gave me by spreading that same exact love onto them. This woman is phenomenal, and even though I’m going off to college in the fall, I wish I could bring her with me... So, she could be able to witness what she missed in her teenage years, mainly because she had to tend to her beautiful and astounding children. Also, my mother knows how to keep real with not only me but everyone else around, she gives the best advice, even if it’s something we don’t want to hear. She keeps me on my toes but she’s really my motivation because she’s a survivor. She survived from almost dying after having my eldest brother due to her being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Oh, and let me not forget that she beyond smart in both education and with creativity. She knows how to make invoices, flyers, business cards, and etc. Let me not forget to mention she’s great with keeping a roof over me and my siblings head, clothes on our back, shoes on our feet, and most of all a smile on our face. My mama doesn’t play about her kids at all, she’s the reason why I’m so overprotective and loving on the ones I love and care for. As well, always encouraging and motivating me to do and be better than what she was growing up. And, before I forget, my mother is the main reason why I get up everyday and strive for perfection , take risks, and step out on faith… In order for me to have a bright future and be able to take care of her when that time comes. Lastly, this phenomenal woman that I call “mom” is the reason why I’m driven each and every day to try to figure out how to put us in a better position. I thank God for her, because she’s really one of a kind!
By Jazmine Johnson5 years ago in Families
Mother's worst nightmare
When a story such as this has such an immense amount of pain in its context, where does one begin? Perhaps I will begin where the pain passed down to generations, was nowhere seen, just yet. From the very first baby doll I was given, I knew that I always wanted to be a mother. I have loved children and pictured how perfect mine would someday be, nearly all of my life. Although, exceptional motherhood in itself was never clearly displayed for me. I am one of six sisters. And all through my teens, I felt as though my mother was sister number seven for various reasons. She was the "fun" mom, who had no limit to drama, or bedroom gossip for that matter. On the other hand, my father was a very strict Christian man in my teens so it was somewhat appealing to have such opposite parents. The struggles were nearly always complimented by the idea that I could choose which parts of each of them to take on as an attribute, or shy away from. I was always a thinker growing up so in that way, I would analyze most everything that I couldn't understand perfectly. The Christian I wanted to become would show much more compassion and humility then dad, and T.M.I. would be a very well known idea when it came to what I shared with my own children.
By Nicole Conoway 5 years ago in Families
