My Mother
I walked into the house at 1443 Glenhaven, Abilene, Texas. It was August, 1963, and school was about to start. I was barefoot, and my mother didn't hear me enter the house.
I walked through the living room and dining room to the kitchen where she was washing dishes with her back to me. When I got about eight feet or so from her, I said "Mama". She turned around, and when she saw me, all the color drained from her face, and she gave forth an ear piercing scream that must have lasted at least ten second. People in Winters, Texas, 40 miles away, must have heard that scream. All the while I stood there thinking "my mother must truly love me. I wish I hadn't put her through this." Bless her heart, I miss her still.
What she saw standing in her kitchen was her 15 year old son after he had a motorcycle accident, and went off the bike at about 45 miles an hour, on to asphalt while wearing a bathing suit. I must have looked like 120 pounds of hamburger standing there, still in my bathing suit, and probably still in shock. Jeez, what I put her through. And yet, she still only saw the good in me and always let me know how much she loved me. I didn't deserve it, and I'm still trying to grow into that love through all these years.
A better Mom there's never been!
Mother’s Day, 2014
