A Happy Holistic Mother's Day Story

My mother is lying in a hospital bed; her heart is so weak and damaged that it cannot keep fluids from accumulating in her lungs. Nearly twenty years after quadruple bypass surgery, she may be on her deathbed. My sister and I are talking to her about the past and my brother Ronnie, who died of asthma when he was four years old. His death became the fulcrum around which my mother's life has fallen and then risen. It is the lowest point of her life, and also from where she has become a source of strength to all who know her.

At the end of our conversation about my brother, my mother said something that nearly took my breath away. Leaning forward and looking to some far away place, in a voice barely audible, she said, "At least we had him for four years. Some babies are lost after only a few months." And then she lay back in her hospital bed and closed her eyes.

I could not stop thinking about my mother's statement. How could she be so positive, so grateful? This woman has such strength. Her perspective on the life and loss of my brother made her life more meaningful than I can comprehend. The perspectives that we take impact the quality and meaning of our own lives in ways that most of us are rarely aware.

Happy Mother's Day Mom...and thanks for being such an inspiring teacher! Love you!