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Quote of the Day: A Mother’s Love edition
Five-year-old me, after I didn’t get my way: “I hate you, mom!”
My saint of a mother: “That may be, Andrew, but let me tell you something. For as much as you think that you hate me right now, I love you by more than 100 times that amount.”
It didn’t matter how many times I yelled that phrase when I was being an ornery little [expletive]. My mom would always tell me that she loved me more than I thought that I hated her. Trust me, that sense of security and love that my mom fostered in me has had a lasting impact on my life. There were the times when I disappointed her with the stupid decisions that I made in college; I can recall one particular phone call when she said, “I’ve never been more disappointed in you, but I love you more than that level of disappointment.” A mother’s love is an amazing thing.
I remember times when I was a teenager and we would see a mom and her four-, five-, or six-year-old kid in public. The kid would yell that he hated her. And the mom responded with, “I hate you too.” Every time that I saw that I would turn to my mom and thank her for telling me that she loved me more than I thought that I hated her. She’d respond, “And I’ll always love you more than you love me.”
This Thanksgiving will be the second one without my mom, I’m certain that it won’t be any easier than the first. I’ve been thinking of her more than usual. Even though she is no longer here to tell me that she loves me more than I love her, I know that her love is now eternal.
Perhaps that why this was her favorite hymn:
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Published in General
What a beautiful tribute to your mother; I am so sorry for your loss. My father is 93, and my mother is 85; I am almost 50, but the thought of life without them becomes more terrifying to me with each day. God Bless you.
Lovely, Johnnie! You aren’t alone with respect to Thanksgiving without loved ones; your gratitude keeps her love active: Thanks for the reminder…A blessed Thanksgiving!
Thank you Nanda and a Blessed Thanksgiving to you as well!
I like it.
This conversation is part of our Quote of the Day Series, where you’ll find the funny and the serious, the touching and the intellectually-stimulating. If you would like to start a conversation in the series, all you need is a quotation that you think will make a good start to a conversation and to sign up over here.
Perfect for Thanksgiving. Thank you, Johnnie.
Prayers for you. She was a wonderful person.
What a lovely tribute. And what a wonderful mother. I miss my parents every day, and especially at times like this. Enjoy Thanksgiving and your beautiful memories, and know that others share in your pain, your joy and your love.
Thank you for this post! It’s both a moving tribute and a hidden piece of advice. As a still relatively new parent, we’re doing our best to try to balance providing our kids the right level of love and support with not letting them get away with being naughty. Our kids are 4 and 6 and it isn’t easy. I like your mother’s methodology and may try stealing it — I hope it’s not patented!
Thanks again for the moving post.
You are welcome. I’m glad that you enjoyed it.
Fast demotion to the Main Feed, there, Johnnie.
Yes that was fast.
What? No, no. I’ve just been dicing onions.
Such a lovely tribute to your mother.
Thank You, Skip.