Mothers are useful

Sunday the restaurants, fast food places, buffets and family dinner tables will be crowded as families gather to honor their mothers. I personally anticipate the exhilaration of spending my weekend cooking again for my children and grandchildren as they return from college, their jobs and lives in other cities and communities.
I began to get into the mood when the News-Times asked elementary students to submit short essays on why their mother is special. Reading them has been a daunting task as we received nearly twice as many essays this year.
After reading and keying in hundreds upon hundreds of these essays, they began to sound alike. Mothers are special because they do things, take the child places, buy for them, gave them birth and help on homework.
It all reminds me of the mother whose young son came up and hugged her,
“I love you, momma.”
“Why do you love me?”
The boy stopped, thought a moment, and said, “because you are useful.”
Having been a useful person to several tiny people entrusted to my care, I think he summarized a lot of good parenting, teaching and family life. A useful parent shelters, gives, cherishes, provides, motivates and then steps back a bit at a time to see if they can stand, walk, run and finally make a life on their own.
Reading about how useful these elementary students found their moms has been an adventure. Due to limitations of space the News-Times will not be able to publish every essay, however, we have tried to include some from each school.
While reviewing the essays, I came across two that particularly struck me as well written on the topic of motherhood. I am pulling them out of the pile to share with you here.
The first was written by Jared Cook at Barton Middle School.
“A friend, a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt and a mother. All of these people are actually one: my mother. My mom is a friend to everyone she comes in contact with. A loving wife who cares deeply for my father. An unselfish daughter who would go to the ends of the world for her parents. A compassionate sister who worries about her sister when she hasn’t called. A trusting aunt who can see the truths about her nieces and nephews. My mother is the best mother that God can give.
She is forgiving when I mess up. She is always there for me no matter what goes wrong. She believes in me through my hardest time.”
The other essay, I have shared with several people in the office, at home and in the community. It takes a different approach while reflecting all the students attempts to express why their mother is special.
Don Drinco, a fourth grader at Murmil Heights, wrote, “My mother is not the best mother in the universe. And she’s not the greatest mother in the world. She’s a special mother. Not because she buys me clothes and shoes or that she takes me places. She’s not a bad mother because she messes up sometimes. She is a special mother because she loves me. And that’s all a special mother has to do to be a special mother.”