A Mothers Day Tribute
By Carolyne Ngugi.
Let’s start with a fun fact, shall we? Mother’s day can be traced back to the Greeks and Romans to honor mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. The modern-day mother’s day, in the early Christian festival, was known as “mothering Sunday”, where traditionally the faithful would return to their church for a special service.
Obviously, over the years, the tradition changed into a more secular holiday where children would present their mothers with gifts and tokens of appreciation. This is the reason why I am writing this article; to thank all the mothers in all their forms. I feel like we tend to forget what women go through to raise a child.
The pregnancy and motherhood journey is one to be revered. How many of us know what our mothers went through to put a smile on our faces? I can’t pretend or say I feel the pain of a mother as I am not one yet but, I will do my best to represent every aspect from the physical pain, emotional pain, and even the mental health challenges.
To the mothers who had a challenging pregnancy but were blessed to give birth to their baby healthy, we appreciate you. We may never know what scars healed or never healed, we may never know what movement your body can not perform as well as it used to, yet you move regardless. We love you and we pray that you will always have the support you need.
To the mothers who went through postpartum depression. I don’t have words to console you or words to imply I understand your pain. All I can say is thank you that you kept living. Thank you for taking care of that newborn despite not wanting to. Thank you for choosing to keep going. Thank you for doing the best for your child.
To the mothers who are firstborn daughters in their homes and always had to mother their siblings as well as their children, we love you so much. Thank you for somehow managing both families. You have so much strength. I know you will teach your firstborn daughter responsibility in ways we will never comprehend. We say thank you for teaching your first-born daughters about finances and family.
To the mothers who are currently in violent marriages and being held hostage with their children, my heart goes out to you. Thank you for making sure that the abusive father doesn’t have his way with the children. It must take a lot to get up every morning and be the shield to your innocent children day in and day out. There must be days you get up and want to walk out but you never do. You’re the real wonder woman.
To the single mum, who has to deal with the challenge of raising her children by herself. It must be difficult to raise children as you either grieve the loss of your best friend and companion or face the numerous challenges of raising a child on your own. It must be hard not to break down in front of your children sometimes. You are a strong mom, I appreciate you and celebrate you.
To the moms with gifted children, I hope the stigma was not very harsh. It’s not right that you went through that. I hope your child is doing well and most importantly I hope you’re doing well. It isn’t your fault and it isn’t the child’s fault either. Happy mother’s day to you - gifted mom.
There’s so much more I don’t understand about motherhood and I’m sure the world doesn’t either. I just hope that today is a little different in that you get that listening ear, that crying shoulder and that helping hand. I know there’s a lot I haven’t covered, forgive me, I am just in awe of the beauty and thorns of motherhood.
Happy mothers day!
