Where would we be without our moms? One day a year in May doesn’t do them justice. I’d like to point out four stories where moms rule with love. Each piece evokes a powerful memory of my own mom. I bet they will for you too, because motherly love is universal.
Dancing With the Stars winner and wounded Army vet J.R. Martinez tells how his mom never left his side when he was recovering from nearly fatal burns after his convoy was attacked in Iraq. “God still has a purpose for you,” she told her boy at the depths of his pain and despair.
I had severe asthma as a kid and Mom would stay up all night reading to me as I hunched on the edge of my bed struggling to breathe. She told me not to worry—if she fell asleep an angel would wake her up. And one always did.
My friend Kitty Slattery tells a story of how her mom’s magnificent chocolate cake made especially for Bible study became a source of comfort for her when her mom died.
My mom’s chocolate cakes were, well, not so magnificent. Lopsided with icing that looked as if it had been put on with a garden trowel. Yet what I wouldn’t give for one of Mom’s messy cakes today.
Carla Hendricks reveals the triumphs and travails of raising an adopted child from Russia with severe adjustment problems. I had a brother with Down syndrome, which is certainly not the same thing, but I got to see the incredible courage and faith required of a mother raising a special-needs kid. These are special moms.
Julien Warren describes rushing her son Isiah to the emergency room and finding out things were worse than she feared—a mom’s worst nightmare. (Learn how Julien and Isiah received unexpected comfort from a program you support.)
I was once rushed in an ambulance in critical condition after being hit by a car. The only thing I remember is looking up and seeing my mother in the ambulance with me, her lips moving quickly but calmly. I knew what she was doing. And to this day I believe it made all the difference.
