A Mother by Brooklen Borne ~ A Mother’s Day Dedication

A Mother

By Brooklen Borne © 2013

The song, ‘I’ll Always Love My Mama’ by The Intruders, is one of my all times favorites.  That song along with other like lyrics, remind me how strong a mother’s love is for her child/children.  Having a daily dose of that unconditional love can get you through the roughest of times and savior the sweetest of times.

On December 24th at the age of eleven, that daily dose of love that I was use to receiving from my mother; came to a screeching halt.  Not because she didn’t want to give it to me, but because she no longer had the capability of doing so.  A capability of hers that I truly didn’t understand how important it was to me until it wasn’t there any longer for me to have.

When my brother who was sixteen at the time, looked in my direction after trying to give our mother mouth-to-mouth resuscitation; in which neither one of us was trained to do, said to me “I think mama’s gone.”  His words confirmed what I already knew, but I still couldn’t believe what was really going on or should I say wanted to accept it.  I remained calm as I told him we need to call family.  My brother leaped from my mother’s bed and ran to the phone; picking up the receiver.  I began to rattle off numbers from memory of family members to call.  As soon as he hung up from one call, I gave him another set of numbers to call. This went on to all the important calls were made.

I stood there saying to myself …mama wake up please. I’m lost without you.  I’m scared; I don’t know what to do without you. Please mama, get up; I need you! I stood there frozen in time wondering what is going to happen to me and my brother. To utter the words mama, mother or mom would never again be the same.  It all seemed surreal.

There are many days I reminisce about my mother; appreciating the many things she had taught me in the eleven short years we had together.  Things like manners, what is right from wrong, how to tie my shoes, how to conduct myself in public, how to treat others with respect, how to hold and eat with a spoon/fork and let me not forget the infamous potty training…LOL. The little things we take for granted; you know what I mean.

I wrote this piece to remind some people, how precious it is to still have a mother and to enjoy her unconditional gift of love.  Because my brother’s and I will never experience that kind of love again nor did we get the chance to say good-bye to her.  My mother died from the flu, she caught on December 22nd and passed away in her sleep two days later on the 24th.  I didn’t know until that Christmas Eve Day, how proficient my brother and I had been taught by her; in case of such an emergency of this magnitude should occur.  She was the greatest teacher in the world.  Lessons she taught that would prepare me for the unknown journey of life; I would embark upon.  I also would like to reiterate that all women that gave birth are not necessarily a mother; she could be just an egg donor.  The same way some women classify men as sperm donors.  It takes a true woman, along with the sacrifice of commitment for her child or children on a biblical scale; to be called a mother.  So you first time mothers-to-be, please take heed to the words in this story.  There are many people that are reading this, wishing they could get a taste of that unconditional love from their mother just one more time.

Please, don’t be disrespectful towards your mother; don’t take your mother presence for granted, because when the Lord calls your mother home, there is no rewind button to press to do over again.  Let’s honor, cherish and love our dear mother’s because like The Intruder’s lyrics say, “I’ll always love my mama, she’s my favorite girl; you only get one, you only get one yeah. I’ll always love my mama; she brought me in this world.  I’m talking about mama……

I dedicate this piece to my mother; also to the women who are exercising a mother’s position, the adoptive mothers, and to all the mothers, around the world.