Define the Days of Your Youth. That is our slogan here at Un-Associated. We are a platform invested in and focused on spreading truth, sharing experiences and encouraging you – members of our community – to define the days of your youth. And these are words that we, on the team, all live by as well. But today is Mother’s Day and I could not define the days of my youth without my mother’s unwavering support and sacrifices she made for my benefit. I’ve written, at great length, about my father’s infinite wisdom and how that has strengthened my character and perception of life, but all that I am, the very best parts of me, are characteristics I attribute to my mother just as much as my father.
Youth, yes, is about age and is a special and unique time that decides and solidifies the people we become and the lives we will ultimately lead. But youth is equally, if you ask me, about spirit. And my mother has possessed and maintained a youthful spirit for as long as I can remember. Her smile and warm, winsome disposition are infectious. Not only because it is impossible to be in her company without smiling, but also because if you have the distinct pleasure of being in her company, she will not let you leave without uplifting you and reminding you of your intrinsic value and how much God loves you.
I know kindness, endurance and resilience because of my mother. For some of us – many of us – a challenge, impediment or obstacle of any kind is immensely discouraging. And if it is pervasive enough, it makes us want to bow out gracefully or take a break in order to assess our mental capacity and how we are going to forge ahead – which is not bad at all. But that is just one way of doing things. I’ve watched my mother take a different approach to opposition and hardship. My mother, like most of us, has been discouraged and knocked down, but she has neither bowed out nor took a break. She endures the obstacle, the challenge and whatever it is that stands in her way. It is not without trepidation or anxiety, but with immense faith – faith that she is never alone and that it, too, shall pass.
My parents got married when my mom was just 20 years old and immediately they started a family and raised six children. And while raising our family and being a wife, she became a paraprofessional in the Department of Education and a mother to so many children who had no one to care for them at home because that is who she is. Intrinsically, she is kind and selfless, never asking what anyone can do for her, but doing everything she can for others. Just two years ago, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in social work – a field I am convinced was designed for her. One thing she never taught me was giving up, and one thing I always remind her is that her story is not finished yet. That so long as there is breath in her body, she is still needed. I will always need her, but there are so many people who are in need of her smile, her optimism, her faith, her kindness, and her heart – evidence that people like this exist and that in a world like ours, characteristics like hers are still capable of possessing.
To my mother, my very best friend and a true light on Earth, thank you for nurturing me with love, embodying love and always being there for me without judgment. I have never had to face anything alone, and I have never known what it is like to not have support, to not be loved, and to not be encouraged and that is because of you. I could not have received a better mother if I had asked God for you myself. You (and daddy) trained me up in the way I should go and bequeathed to me something far more immense than any material thing. By example, you taught me about God, about faith and about purpose, and as a result, I get to live in mine. I respect you, admire you and I love you.
Happy Mother’s Day!
