For as long as I can remember, my mother Beth has been the linchpin of our family. At 76 years old today, she remains the most consistent, reliable person in my life. And with this consistency comes comfort, support and a nurturing motherly instinct that kept us all together through hardships and uncertain times when they arose. Even when everything threatened to change around us, I could always turn to my mother, my true north star, for guidance and with expectation that she’d see us safely through whatever personal storm was raging, with a knowing smile and an understanding embrace.
My mother’s consistency extends to nearly every aspect of her identity, from her modest, casual wardrobe, to her unchanging hairstyle. She never had any use for makeup or foul language. Even my mother’s weight hasn’t fluctuated; the image of her thin and lean figure gliding purposefully through our house is forever rooted in my childhood memories. Her stable nature naturally lent itself to her secretarial career, as well as the handling of the clerical and paperwork when my father started his business.
Ever the traditional wife and mother, there was nothing unpredictable about my mom, nothing that was subject to change, aside from one crucial aspect: her faith. In the throws of my own addiction issues, my mother, who was never very religious, started going to Sunday Mass. She sought comfort and support through God and found a community of her own, one that offered up a camaraderie and a sense of unity that she had never experienced before.
Mom has always truly loved her familial role, excelling as an unwavering force of maternity, and a staple of support in our home. It was all she ever needed, yet she recognized when these needs changed. She was open to this, to the idea of relying on her own support and finding it in a like-minded community. To this day, I think about what a courageous act this was. It couldn’t have been an easy thing to do, making room for change in a previously unchanging life, and still she took that first step into something new and unknown.
Society does not often heap praises upon housewives and mothers, yet my mother is deserving of both. She is our anchor, our grounding force. Growing up, she kept us on track whenever we’d fall off and ran our house like a well-oiled machine. And when she needed something new, she did not shrink away from uncertainty, instead making room for new favorites in the face of difficult times. She will always be a source of courage and inspiration for me. Like her nature, so too is my pride and love for her, unwavering and eternal.