These Amazing Moms!

I have been a lucky mom.  The kids have been basically healthy and intelligent.  Both have decent tempers and lots of interests. No learning disabilities or serious medical issues, So when I am complimented on my often charming, smart, and good natured children I often want to say, Thank you, but I've been lucky.

I know I have been lucky, because I count among my friends and family, persons who have faced multiple crisis among their children and gone soldiering on.  Some of them have been dealing that from the moment they laid eyes on their children.  Others rose to the moment when confronted with a crisis.  Either way the are the moms who have gone above and beyond, and its to them I dedicate this Mother's Day post.

One of my friends I have known all my life. Unable to have children, she and her husband adopted a whole family of siblings who had previously been abused.  There were both ups and downs in such a situation as one can well imagine. A few years ago she had to take custody of several grandchildren, all preschool age or younger, the youngest an infant. She works full time while doing this.  When I asked her about the load she said "I never go to parent a baby, and now I do. I enjoy it." She is amazing.

Another mom has had her ups and downs in life.  Burdened with a lot of family issues, she nonetheless tried to make up for it with her own kids. When one of them developed a life threatening illness she went into mama bear mode, co ordinating his life and needs without losing track of spouse or other kids.  Meanwhile she lifts others with her awesome sense of humor, even though many of the others don't deal with half of what she does.  Another amazing mom.

My third amazing mom has three kids, the youngest one with autism.  She endlessly advocates for her youngest (as well as the others) with school systems and doctors.  Indeed she was the one who got him diagnosed, after the family doctor told her his speech delays were due to his siblings doing everything for him. She knew something was wrong and found the specialist who backed her up, so he could get the early intervention he needed.  Again, another amazing mom.

And I know yet another mom. This one also has 3 children, 2 of whom have special needs, one with a chromosome disorder, and the other a crippling youth illness.  The third is a dancer who commits to many classes and rehearsals weekly.  She maneuvers through all this, plus extra curricular and school events, and at times has home schooled her kids when necessary.  Meanwhile she a go to person for at least half a dozen civic organizations for kids. Another amazing mom.

And I'm not done yet! I know another mom, who has had many ups and downs in life. She lost her dad as a child and her mom just after her first child was born. She lost a husband in a car wreck a few months after the wedding.  She often wound up being the only parent around and yet she raised four fine children, despite money worries and debilitating arthritis.
No one I have ever met rolls with life's punches as she does.

Now none of these moms set out to be amazing, and I'm sure all of them would prefer more normal lives.  But all have rolled with life's punches and come up shining.  I am inspired by them, and so many others as well.
I wish them, and you, and my mom too a great Mothers' Day.