"I am Your Mother"

I am deeply touched by an old woman's message to her children who are now having some business and personal conflicts. As a mother, I can tell that this really, really hurts.

Sharing with you a copy of that message. I will just change the names here.

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I am deeply saddened that my son, Romeo, would counter all my statements in public rather than visit me at my house. It only shows how he regards me as his mother.

I have invited you, Edna, Casey, and Rustom to my house to discuss this problem as a family but instead, you are lecturing me about matters discussed in the Family Constitution. My son, you don't have to remind me of those things. I am fully aware of what transpired in those meetings.

You are so candid in telling your story to the public, giving credit only to your late father. Have you forgotten that I was a part of your father's achievements? That we hurdled all difficulties when we first started our business? Have you forgotten the contributions I made to the companies which made you and your siblings' prominent personalities in the community? That even in my old age, I never stop nurturing the needs of our employees to motivate them to stay with us? Am I not part of this company?

I was not just the shadow of your father as I was his business partner in building this company. I dedicated my life to this company.

Pray hard that your own children will not do what you have done to me, because it never occurred to me that in my twilight years the four of you will DENY me the LOVE and RESPECT I long from the four of you.

Listen to your conscience, Romeo. Honor me as your MOTHER. You are a parent, too.

Pray and seek spiritual guidance, Romeo. I am counting on you as my eldest son. Have the wisdom of a righteous person.

I had instilled positive values to you and your siblings when you were young kids. Your Dad and I raised all of you to become good citizens.

I cannot find words to describe how hard you've become. Yes, change is inevitable but I never imagined that the "change that you will embrace" means turning your backs on your mother. Listen to your hearts. Return to Christ's teachings. Do not listen to the ill advice of other people. They do not mean well to all of us.

I know you all so well because you are my children, my blood and my flesh.

I hope those people surrounding you, claiming to protect your best interests do not have vested interests in your material success. Otherwise, you will regret it in the end.

You can have as many so-called friends or special people in your circle but I am your only Mother in this world.

Listen to your hearts Romeo, Edna, Casey, and Rustom. I am your mother.

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My heart really goes out to the old woman. I can feel the pain. The most devastating experience for a  mother more so in her grey days, is when the children get very stubborn and disrespect her.

They may not know how she carried them in her womb for nine (9) months and risked her life to deliver them. But definitely, they know that she was there in raising them up.

When both the father and mother work or attend to the family business, after the regular job the father takes a rest at home, while the mother is still on duty attending to children and other home routines.

These days there are many ungrateful children who disown and avoid their mothers just because they think she is no longer of use. They are happy when they are with friends. They listen to them and they value them more than their own mother.

They have their wings and after spreading them they fly. When they earn money of their own, they think that they can own the world, leaving the mother in distress seeing them forgetting the basic values that they were taught when they were young.

Many children believe that they are inherently deserving to receive whatever love, care, support and worldly things they get from their mothers -- that those are their moral duties and obligations. Yes, it is true. But they must not only think of that as an 'entitlement'. They must consider all as a 'blessing' to be thankful for.

Contemplating on Craig D. Lounsbrough's lines -- "To be ignorant of the sacrifices of others that yielded the blessings I enjoy leaves me exchanging the reality of 'blessing' for the assumption of 'entitlement.' And once that happens, I will forfeit the reality of the former which will destroy the assumption of the latter. And in what terribly dark place will that now leave me?" -- I have realized that it is the way how one looks at what he gets -- blessing or entitlement? -- that will shape future actions and reactions. If it is viewed as a blessing, there is that grateful feeling, rooted from love and respect.

How can the creators of algorithms in social media help rewire the brains of children to love and respect the elders particularly their mothers? Everything that we feed our brains influences our thoughts. Help them to remember what they have forgotten about the love and sacrifices of a mother, and teach them to value their own.

May all mothers and children who are hurting passionately mend their broken hearts.

Elle Smith ('The Way Back Home'), reminds us,

All the forces on this planet will never beat that of a mother's love.

I love to traverse through that road leading to our home and have a time travel way back then when all my children, my blood and my flesh, were very young. I was the light. They called me 'mommy'. My vitamin was a sweet "I love you, mommy."

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Photo credits:  Pixabay