She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
Proverbs 31:25-26
Mom, I didn’t understand back then why you worked so hard to separate us from certain people and places. I remember many fights on several occasions over this very issue. It has taken forty plus years, but now I truly understand that your intentions had a purpose.
It was not that you thought we were better than everyone else or that certain areas were beneath our standard of living. Simply stated, you just wanted use to have a bigger vision of ourselves. One that reached far beyond our circumstances. One that stretched our borders and allowed us to dream the impossible.
It has taken some time, but I finally figured out that you stretched us to make us better. Not better than others, but better than we thought we could ever be. The journey is not over, but I thank you with all that is within me that you cared enough to sacrifice your heart and soul that we might live the life God intended for us. A life of purpose, fulfillment, and above all else, a life of Love for God, others, and self.
It has been said that you don’t love a woman because she is beautiful; she is beautiful because you love her. Mom, you were and always will be the true beauty of the breath of God. There was none before you and there will be none after. Millions didn’t make it, but you were one of the ones who did. I love you. See you in Heaven.
“All that I am, all that I ever will be, I owe to my mother”
-Abraham Lincoln-