"Mothers are all slightly insane," Holden Caulfield says at one point in The Catcher in the Rye. I always knew what he meant. It was never a quote that I puzzled over. In five words, he nailed it. Yes, mothers are all slightly insane, some more slightly than others. They're insane because they can never be certain, ever, that their child(ren) is(are) completely without harm. They are on some kind of alert twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, always. Some part of them never sleeps. You can't be that attentive and worried for that long and not be slightly crazy. Combine this worry with powerlessness—as soon as the boy or girl steps out of the house (out of the room, actually), they can't do a thing to protect them.
I can’t help wondering if mothers knew exactly what they were getting into when they got pregnant and then when they give birth, if they’d still go through with it. I wonder if they knew the joy that goes along with the pain and worry, if they’d still choose to get pregnant. It’s not a job for the faint of heart. In fact, it’s downright heroic.
You echo my feelings for my mother, divorcing in a time women simply didn’t… struggling to survive and give me the best she could, succeeding overwhelmingly in that, and then raising herself to a PhD level after starting her life divorced with a newborn, serving coffee at the train station for money to live. I didn’t acknowledge her properly either, but I know she is a triumphant spirit right now still teaching me truth and wisdom 🦋
I can’t help wondering if mothers knew exactly what they were getting into when they got pregnant and then when they give birth, if they’d still go through with it. I wonder if they knew the joy that goes along with the pain and worry, if they’d still choose to get pregnant. It’s not a job for the faint of heart. In fact, it’s downright heroic.
You echo my feelings for my mother, divorcing in a time women simply didn’t… struggling to survive and give me the best she could, succeeding overwhelmingly in that, and then raising herself to a PhD level after starting her life divorced with a newborn, serving coffee at the train station for money to live. I didn’t acknowledge her properly either, but I know she is a triumphant spirit right now still teaching me truth and wisdom 🦋
Marty BWW
Lovely Rich. Really lovely.