There are certain events in our lives that leave indelible marks on our lives.
Sometimes these events our heartbreaking, but serve to motivate us for good. ln
1977, my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The news hit me like a
load of bricks. I was 24 years old and had taken for granted that my parents would
be with me for many years to come. Now, suddenly, that future seemed in doubt.
It was a difficult time in my life. I had graduated from college and was lost. I
thought l knew what I wanted to do, but I really didn’t. I had quit going to
church, something I had been taught to do all of my life. In short, l was not living the
kind of life my parents would have been proud of, and I knew it. I knew they were
very worried about me and what I was going to do with myself, but I just could not
seem to find my way, and then my mom got sick.
During the course of the next year, with numerous chemo treatments, mom
seemed to get better and in fact, the tumor was shrinking, we were encouraged
with that news. Then all of a sudden, mom had to enter the hospital and came
down with pneumonia. l received a call to fly home to Detroit. When I arrived,
I went to the hospital to see my mother.
When I entered the room, she barely had enough strength to look at me, but she
did. I went over to her side and hugged her and didn’t want to let her go. She
looked at me and I could see that she would not be with us much longer.
She indicated she wanted a pencil and paper to write with since she was too
weak to speak. On the paper she wrote, I am proud of you. My heart sank!
How could she be proud of me? I had not done anything for her to be proud of!
Even then, I think I understood. She wasn’t proud of me because of any
accomplishment. She was proud of me because I was her son and she loved me
without question. She was proud of me because she knew what I was capable
of. She always saw potential in me and believed in me, when I didn’t believe in
myself. She died the next day.
Ever since then, I have thought about how proud she was of me. She never met
my wife or saw her two grandsons or knew how successful I had been at my
work. But she knew I would get there.
Any good thing that I have ever accomplished I can attribute to my mother and
my father. It was because of their love and sacrifice that enabled me to
overcome the hurdles of life. There is not a day that goes by l don’t think of them.