They don’t call it Boys Day anymore. It’s now called Children’s Day. I guess there’s no Girls day or Boys Day just Children’s Day now. In my childhood, I remember the
flying carp (koi) celebrating Boys Day because koi symbolized perseverance in
life, swimming no matter what the circumstances.
May 5, also became a marker in my family 10 years ago when
my Mom passed away, on Boys Day.
One week before Mothers Day.
One of the qualities I observed about mothers from watching my Mom is
unselfishness. One of the jokes
around our dinner table growing up was when we were having chicken. Dad would always remind us that the
neck and the wings were Mom’s favorite pieces, so don’t eat that. One night after years of that reminder,
Mom revealed they weren’t her favorite parts. She said that only because when Mom & Dad were first
married, she was so happy that Dad seemed to devour the chicken she cooked, she
said that so he wouldn’t hesitate to eat everything else.
A post from one of my friends on facebook reminded me of
that. It said that a mom is
someone who says she doesn’t want any pie when she sees there are four slices
of pie and 5 people.
I made it through college on loans my Dad & I took out
and a grant from the school. I
didn’t work in college because I thought I would save money if I took at least
19-20 credits every quarter and graduate in 4 years. Mom sent me $35 a month for everything else like supplies
and extras like going for an ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins (had to walk
through the snow with my roommate, Sandy, to do that in the dead of
winter). Decades later Mom told me
she never bought any new clothes for herself while I was in college. That’s how I got the $35. I'm so glad I mattered more than new clothes.
Unselfishness.
Sacrifice. Qualities we
learn from our parents that introduce us to the character of God. He sacrificed His Son even when we were
oblivious to His love for us.
As we journey through life in our relationship with God, we become more
and more aware that love is like that.
Great love leads to great sacrifice.
And so, Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers I know! Especially to Jamie, mother of Josiah
(my new grandnephew) – on the first of a lifetime of Mothers Days!
