WILKES-BARRE — Anyone who knows me knows that this day, Mother’s Day, is always a struggle for me.
My mom left us on the day before Mother’s Day in 1968; she was 42 years old.
I wrote this many years later in her honor:
“My mother — Elizabeth Kraszewski O’Boyle — managed to learn much in her short 42 years on Earth.
“She had an appreciation for life and people, and she loved art.
“Her dream was to one day stand face-to-face with the Mona Lisa — Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece that hangs in the Louvre in Paris.
“Mom never got to see the Mona Lisa. I often think how many other ‘bucket-list items’ she never had time to scratch off her list.
“In 2000, I decided to take a trip that would include a stop in Paris and a visit to the Louvre and a date with the Mona Lisa. It was a trip to London, Paris, Rome and Florence, and was filled with memories that will last a lifetime.
“It was a trip my mother would have absolutely savored.
“So I was a little nervous when I entered the massive museum — the Louvre — and began my tour. I remember walking past the great masterpieces — ‘Winged Victory,’ ‘Venus de Milo,’ Rembrandts, Renoirs, van Goghs, Michelangelos, Manets and Monets.
“And then we walked through one gallery into another and we were told as we entered that the Mona Lisa was in this room.
“That’s when I choked up a bit and realized that I was about to stare into the eyes of the world’s most famous painting.
“But I was not going to view this lovely lady alone. I was going to look at the Mona Lisa through the eyes of my mother.
“On that September day in 2000, Elizabeth Kraszewski O’Boyle finally got to see her favorite painting.
“It was more than emotional for me. It was an experience that I didn’t want to end. I wanted my mom to be there — and in many ways, through my DNA and my faith, she was.”
I have missed my mom for 55 years now.
Thanks to my dad, we got through it. We got through living a life far less valued without my mom in it. But we managed and we bonded.
I learned so much from my mother and every day since she passed, I have thought of her. Same with my dad, who left me in November 1995.
Both have been there with me from on high to guide me, to advise me, acting like my celestial consciences.
Parents are like that, though too often we don’t always appreciate their value. In many cases, sons and daughters don’t really get to that level of appreciation until it’s too late.
We need to work on that.
But this is Mother’s Day and we all know that all mothers do amazing things on a daily basis that we mere mortals marvel at.
A mother can get her kids off to school after breakfast, make their beds, do the dishes, throw in a wash, fold clothes out of the dryer.
Then she will go to work where she will do her job better than anyone else, find time to do a little shopping at lunchtime, stop at the store on the way home, cook dinner, pay the bills, catch up with a few friends, help with homework, do more dishes, finish the laundry, tidy up the house, take the dog for a walk, go to a soccer or Little League game, drive the neighborhood kids home, get everybody to bed and still have time for a favorite TV show before somehow transforming herself into a seductress for dad as they head off to bed.
If all of that could be adequately represented on a resume, she would be hired for any job she wanted.
Thank goodness motherhood was given to women and not men.
Men could never handle all that.
Men have enough trouble waking up, showering, being somewhat productive at work, less than helpful around the house and excellent at “guy stuff.”
But mothers were charged with all these duties because I think the Creator wanted to make sure they were done correctly. No shortcuts. No procrastinating.
Mothers know that there is always a sense of urgency when it comes to motherly duties. Not that dads don’t care. It’s just that they are not properly equipped emotionally, physically or mentally to grasp the importance of being a good mother.
They can be good fathers, but hey, anybody can play catch, teach a kid how to fish or take them to a ball game. Mothering is all-encompassing.
And it all has to be done now. Not tomorrow, because it all has to be done again tomorrow.
So to all you sons and daughters out there. Yes, treat mom to a great day today. But don’t stop there. Do it every day. She deserves it.
More than you will ever know.
My mom knew how to do it all. And she and most mothers do it all without ever complaining. They cherish being a mom.
They accept the responsibilities.
Mother’s Day is celebrated Sunday.
But every day we should celebrate our mothers.
My parents taught me just about everything — to be kind to people, to respect people’s feelings, to listen, to help, to care.
My mom and dad have always been with me — every day — in my thoughts and in my heart.
My mom, like all moms, always was there to reassure me, to comfort me to love me.
She still does, as I do her.