A Meaningful Life: Part 5, Being mom

"By far, my most rewarding life experience has been as mother, mom, ma, momma to two wonderful boys, Sam and Nick. Born just one year apart, they spent more time together than with anyone else. I remember when Sam went to middle school on a new schedule a year before Nick while Nick remained at elementary school. A few days after school had started, Nick, in a raised voice said, “Sam, I haven’t seen you for 72 hours!” Whether it was actually 72 hours or not was debatable but Nick’s recognition that he wasn’t seeing Sam as often was not. Another brief separation occurred when Sam went to high school the year before Nick while Nick remained at middle school. Sam, the older brother, always made transitions easily and gathered all the information he needed to be successful whether education, friends, music, sports, etc. I remember a conversation Sam and I had as he was going to the larger middle school with his class size increasing to three times that of the elementary school. Having gone to a much smaller school myself, I worried whether the middle school was too large. I sought Sam’s thoughts by asking whether he wanted to be “a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond.” Sam’s response was quick and without hesitation. He said, “What’s the difference, I’m still the same size fish.” I reckoned that Sam was fine being a “fish” no matter how large the “pond.”

I found God’s greatest gifts in my family. We were close and spent lots of time together whether with church, school, vacations, sports, entertainment or home. We shared our lives with laughter, lively discussions and friends abound. The common theme: love. So we were happy. Until we weren’t."

Tomorrow: Part 7, What happened