ACKNOWLEDGING SISTERS:______
ACKNOWLEDGING: SONDRA FREYTAG
Mother’s Day as I Remember...
by SONDRA FREYTAG
Today as I take the pleasure of thinking back on my time as being a mother. I recall a question that I was once asked many times over. "Do you know the actor/singer... so and so?" or "Have you watched the movie/show ....so and so?" My answer was always..."No, sorry I don't know that one." Their response was always, "Well what do you do with your time when you are at home?"
Today I came to realize that I failed at those trivia questions because I was always too busy. I was too busy watching my children's lives as they grew up rather than watching the Cosby Family's life or Day's of Our Lives drama. I was to busy with the kids ball practice and I was way to busy watching my children play softball instead of watching the pro's play base ball. I was too busy watching my little one play basket ball instead of focusing on March Madness scores. I failed to keep up with football because I had little girls and we were too busy dressing up to look pretty, practicing curling our hair and putting on our makeup. I was too busy at the Blackman Theater watching the live concerts of my children singing their hearts out in choir, as I was wiping away my tears for so many years. And I was too busy watching as my oldest daughter set aside all their sibling rivalries to help her sister when her little sister was seriously hurt and couldn't help herself. And watching with so much appreciation as my oldest daughter stepped up to help when I couldn't because I was in so much shock after my baby had survived a thirty foot fall. That’s when I was too busy causes I was teaching her to help others and not ourselves. I was too busy trying to figure how I could take away her pain and lay in that hospital bed for her, while she laid there and never complained. I was too busy watching my daughter as she continued to cheer her peers on in her cheerleading after taking that fall. I was too busy as I watched her play her first softball game after her fall when she fell to the ground in pain when she tried to run again, but continued to insist, "Momma, I will not stop doing what I love to do just because I got hurt. I might of as well of died, if I'm just going to stop doing what I love to do!", as I was begging her not to keep cheering or playing ball because I was afraid of losing her if she got hurt again. At that point I recalled I had taught my children to never give up. If she had stopped, she would have lost her life and what good that be for her. At this point I knew every sacrifice I had made was worth my time. I was too busy watching my girls evolve into marvelous young women, as I wanted them to be. And today I also come to realize I wasn't able to accomplish everything I set out to do for my children but instead I achieved far more than I expected that I could ever do for my children.
Today I also remember many times my children thought I wasn't listening or wasn't paying attention but what they didn't know was, we as mothers have a special way of absorbing everything that is going on around us. So as I sat in silence, I may have been planning that next meal or I may have been planning that next birthday party. Or maybe I was replaying that time we were planting the flowers in our flower garden. Or maybe I was trying to figure out how I was going to go on that field trip to New York and Chicago while working 60-70 hours a week. Whatever I was doing it definitely had their names written all over it.
So for all those movies I have missed and all those actors I do not know. I will never regret not knowing them. Because watching “Life Live in Action", is the most intriguing movie I will ever see. When I am eighty years old and rocking in my rocking chair I will have time to catch up on all the movies I have missed and all the actor’s I never knew. That’s if, I’m not too busy sitting in silence thinking about all the good times at the ball games and choir concerts and whatever else life brings to us in the years to come.
Thank you Dear God, for blessing me as a mother. And thank you Dear Lord, for choosing my life to be so filled up that I had no time to sit and watch someone else’s life because I had my own to enjoy! And thank you God for all the strength you gave to me when I felt like giving up because I was just too tired or I just didn't know what to do any more. I have truly been blessed!!! And thank you to Jerica and Kerisia for making my life so wonderful!!!! Our life may not be perfect but it is perfect in my eyes.
Love,
Mom
by SONDRA FREYTAG
Today as I take the pleasure of thinking back on my time as being a mother. I recall a question that I was once asked many times over. "Do you know the actor/singer... so and so?" or "Have you watched the movie/show ....so and so?" My answer was always..."No, sorry I don't know that one." Their response was always, "Well what do you do with your time when you are at home?"
Today I came to realize that I failed at those trivia questions because I was always too busy. I was too busy watching my children's lives as they grew up rather than watching the Cosby Family's life or Day's of Our Lives drama. I was to busy with the kids ball practice and I was way to busy watching my children play softball instead of watching the pro's play base ball. I was too busy watching my little one play basket ball instead of focusing on March Madness scores. I failed to keep up with football because I had little girls and we were too busy dressing up to look pretty, practicing curling our hair and putting on our makeup. I was too busy at the Blackman Theater watching the live concerts of my children singing their hearts out in choir, as I was wiping away my tears for so many years. And I was too busy watching as my oldest daughter set aside all their sibling rivalries to help her sister when her little sister was seriously hurt and couldn't help herself. And watching with so much appreciation as my oldest daughter stepped up to help when I couldn't because I was in so much shock after my baby had survived a thirty foot fall. That’s when I was too busy causes I was teaching her to help others and not ourselves. I was too busy trying to figure how I could take away her pain and lay in that hospital bed for her, while she laid there and never complained. I was too busy watching my daughter as she continued to cheer her peers on in her cheerleading after taking that fall. I was too busy as I watched her play her first softball game after her fall when she fell to the ground in pain when she tried to run again, but continued to insist, "Momma, I will not stop doing what I love to do just because I got hurt. I might of as well of died, if I'm just going to stop doing what I love to do!", as I was begging her not to keep cheering or playing ball because I was afraid of losing her if she got hurt again. At that point I recalled I had taught my children to never give up. If she had stopped, she would have lost her life and what good that be for her. At this point I knew every sacrifice I had made was worth my time. I was too busy watching my girls evolve into marvelous young women, as I wanted them to be. And today I also come to realize I wasn't able to accomplish everything I set out to do for my children but instead I achieved far more than I expected that I could ever do for my children.
Today I also remember many times my children thought I wasn't listening or wasn't paying attention but what they didn't know was, we as mothers have a special way of absorbing everything that is going on around us. So as I sat in silence, I may have been planning that next meal or I may have been planning that next birthday party. Or maybe I was replaying that time we were planting the flowers in our flower garden. Or maybe I was trying to figure out how I was going to go on that field trip to New York and Chicago while working 60-70 hours a week. Whatever I was doing it definitely had their names written all over it.
So for all those movies I have missed and all those actors I do not know. I will never regret not knowing them. Because watching “Life Live in Action", is the most intriguing movie I will ever see. When I am eighty years old and rocking in my rocking chair I will have time to catch up on all the movies I have missed and all the actor’s I never knew. That’s if, I’m not too busy sitting in silence thinking about all the good times at the ball games and choir concerts and whatever else life brings to us in the years to come.
Thank you Dear God, for blessing me as a mother. And thank you Dear Lord, for choosing my life to be so filled up that I had no time to sit and watch someone else’s life because I had my own to enjoy! And thank you God for all the strength you gave to me when I felt like giving up because I was just too tired or I just didn't know what to do any more. I have truly been blessed!!! And thank you to Jerica and Kerisia for making my life so wonderful!!!! Our life may not be perfect but it is perfect in my eyes.
Love,
Mom