Ode to Me Mother!

Me, with the rake, as "The Country Boy"

NOTE: The following originally appeared as an insert in the program for a play I was in, called "The Country Boy" and I rerun it now in honor of my mama! Happy Mother's Day

This play was originally going to be presented around Mother’s Day, and I thought placing an ad in the playbill proclaiming my love for me mother would make a cute (and inexpensive) gift - but then a better date opened up in June and put an end to that plan (leaving my poor mother with another Kohl’s gift certificate!)

            But I’ve been thinking about her throughout this entire production. The mother character you’ll soon see on stage is such a  kind, caring, and considerate woman, always putting others before herself – rarely showing the world anything but a smile, regardless of what is going on – that I never really had to act, because she is exactly like my mother in real life. And probably yours too.

            We all owe so much to our mothers. The simple fact of me being on this stage is because of my mother. She has supported and defended my every decision, no matter how crazy. Whether it was me intentionally repeating junior year in high school, or heading off to boot camp a few years later (or foolishly deciding to be in this play!) she has always had my back. But it wasn’t until I started playing “Curly” that I realized that many of the things my four brothers and I put her through must not have been as easy for her as she let on. In fact, some of the things were outright heart breaking, and would have destroyed a lesser woman – but my mother is the strongest person I know.

            Sure, the fathers get all the credit for their physical strength, but it’s the mothers who have the real burden of carrying the emotional loads for their families.  Watch the mother on stage closely, listen intently, you’ll rarely hear her complain. Her sons are leaving her, her husband keeps his distance, the neighbors rely on her for everything  - yet she just keeps on giving. And forgiving.  No one seems to notice her pain. No one considers her feelings. Not because they don’t love her – they just take it for granted that she’ll understand.

My mother has guided our family through so many tough times, and through them all, we’ve relied on her to be the steady one. The Rock.  I’ll speak for myself, but everyone in my family should feel guilty for just expecting my mother to be there, ready to soothe us and save us and solve our problems – or sit through the same play two nights in a row! But that’s my mother, and nobody does it better.