I really don't want to wait for Mother's Day and Father's Day, two separate days, to write about why I'm grateful I had a mom and a dad. Is there a Parents' Day? I think that would be nice if there is.
While I did not grow up in
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I am grateful to my parents for permitting the
Mormon Elders, the Missionaries, to come into our home when I was very young. I know their interaction, brief though it was, had a good influence on me and my future.
In my own personal experience I did not have as much influence from my mother as I did from my father because by the time I came along my mother became very ill. When my mother became ill and could no longer tend to the needs of our family, our family literally fell apart. But during the few times she was well enough she was the glue that held us all together. She was a stay-at-home mom even before she became ill and I am grateful that she was. She did make and sell various things for some extra money from time to time, but for the most part my dad was the provider. He ran his own business and she helped him at times.
Both of my parents were firm disciplinarians but they were also very loving. We all often gathered on their laps in their favorite chairs, sitting on the arms of the chair, their laps, cuddled up and smothering our parents with our love. It was wonderful! And how I loved it when I was little to be able to sit on my mother's lap and listen to her talk about life on the farm she grew up on, her spiritual beliefs, even advice on the type of man I should marry someday. She liked to draw, so she would draw little doodles for me as well. I would not trade those times with my mother for anything!
One of the things my mother did for all of us kids at one time or another was to act as a buffer between us and our dad. When we did something wrong, she could soften or cushion dad's reaction. It was good for all concerned.
Our mother kept a very neat house. I don't know how she managed it with five children, cousins and friends coming and going, pets, and two children from a previous marriage who would also visit from time to time -- but she did. It was a great source of comfort and joy for all of us, but especially our father who really loved coming home to a clean house and clean kids. He used to say that if he happened to be thinking about steak for supper that's exactly what she would have on the table for him when he got home from a hard day's work. This was long before cellular phones. He felt their connection went beyond the physical plane. He was so heartsick when she became ill.
My dad did all that he knew how to do to try to keep everything together when her illness set in, but it just wasn't enough. There was no way that he knew to keep up with all of us, work, and tend to her.
I enjoyed all of the time that I got to share with my dad, but how wonderful it would have been if both my parents had been able to be there for me as I grew up. The advice and guidance I could have received from my mother surely would have been beyond price.
I'm thankful for the time I had with both of my parents, though, and I cannot imagine
a more ideal way of life.
This is what I believe.
