Mother’s Day – Janet Grunst

A holiday fraught with so many different emotions for people, many which I addressed in a Mother’s Day blog post four years ago.

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This year as I reflect on Mother’s Day, I give thanks for my mother-in-law and my mother. When I think of these ladies, the word spunk plays through my mind.

I grieve because one Mom will leave this life within days of this Mother’s Day, the other Mom left this life within days of Mother’s Day thirty-eight years ago.

My husband and I wait for news of the imminent death of his ninety-nine-year-old mom. She is quickly fading. She didn’t live a remarkable life as the world views success. But this lady faced life with grace and grit. Like so many others, her husband served his country in Europe during WWII, leaving her at home with a baby son. Fortunately, she had a large and close family in their small mid-western town. When the war ended, her husband returned and they had a second son. But when their boys were thirteen and seven her husband died from cancer. A woman of strong faith, she soldiered on, got a job, and raised two godly sons. Life wasn’t always easy, but she had spunk and lived many years serving her family and her church.

My mother was not able to continue her education beyond the eighth grade because her father was a naval officer and the family was stationed in Asia. She didn’t let the lack of formal education keep her from continuing to educate herself. She was an avid reader who loved to learn. Raised in the 1930’s, she was not allowed to get a job because her parents thought it unseemly. She married in her mid-twenties to a naval officer and served as a wife, mother, and in the many different roles that were part of being a senior officer’s wife. Again, not a remarkable life by the world’s standards, but a wonderful role model in so many ways. She was a wonderful cook, played the organ, keep the books, sewed, and made hats to perfection. She faced the many moves with grace, grit, and a positive attitude. I am forever grateful for her spunk facing all of life’s challenges, even cancer that took her life thirty-eight years ago.

So there is a feeling of loss this Mother’s Day, but I am also inspired by these two remarkable women.

I hope this Mother’s Day, you can reflect on women who inspire you and give thanks.

It’s safe to say we all had mothers, but Mother’s Day can bring on a multitude of differing emotions, some painful some pleasant. The same is true for Father’s Day and often for the same reasons, but since it’s May, and for the purpose of this commentary we will focus on Mother’s Day.

When our nation celebrates Mother’s Day, one is bombarded for weeks ahead by merchant’s pleas to purchase cards, gifts, and flowers for those special Mothers in our lives. On a walk through any card shop in early spring we will see Mother’s Day cards honoring mothers, step-mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, mother’s–in-law, daughters, nieces, and friends. What is lost in all the commercial promotions is that Mother’s Day can also elicit emotions that no one wants to celebrate. Not everyone has had a positive experience with their own mother growing up, or as an adult. Some people find Mother’s Day a time of great sadness because it is a painful reminder of the loss of a beloved parent. What about the woman who has longed to be a mother, but for whatever reason, she’s never experienced that joy? That Sunday can pierce her heart annually. And for some of us who were mothers, or were about to be a mother, but lost that precious child, it can be an agonizing or a bittersweet day.

I was very blessed to have a terrific mother with whom I had a wonderful relationship. She died of an excruciatingly painful disease when I was thirty, and I will always feel her loss, and regret that my children never knew her. Providentially, when my father remarried, he gave me a stepmother whom I loved and enjoyed for many years. I’ve also been fortunate to have mother’s-in-law whom I loved, respected, and felt fortunate to have in my life. There are also a few women in my life who have been mentors for me. In their own way, they have been like mothers. I am grateful to have had all of these ladies in my life and I learned much from each of them. Now, I have daughter’s-in law and a stepdaughter, each a mother, doing a terrific job raising their children.

Mom & Sons 2001 — *Mom & Sons USNA Graduation 2001*

So this Mother’s Day I give thanks to all the “Mothers” in my life and to my two sons who gave me the privilege of being a mother. I will also pray for a special blessing, and healing for those women who may find this holiday less than joyous.

What are your thoughts on Mother’s Day?

Tag: Mother’s Day

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