Today is Mother’s Day and we celebrate it with mothers around the world. It is also the day that my youngest son packed up all his belongings and left home to forge his own path. It was time for him to make his own way and to live his life as he chooses. I have always known that this would happen. But did it have to come around so soon? This is still hard for me, as a mom, to face this reality.
For the last 37 years we have had our house filled with the sounds of children, then noisy teenagers and finally independent adults. There was never a dull moment with music blaring, meals to plan and the constant flow of visitors through our front door. Oh and I forgot to mention the piles of washing! I always thought that the crawling stage was fraught with grubby leggings but little did I know that muddy overalls and sports kit would follow.
What next, I ask myself?
I am really not sure. I know that I am fortunate to have a wide range of interests. My garden is my passion and reading and writing come a close second. I am grateful to have a close circle of friends. This includes my loyal South African friends who have walked this long road of immigration with me. So there is much to occupy me but still I know this will be a stage of transition. I am going to allow myself the time to gently pass through it. I count myself lucky to be only reaching this stage at the ripe age of 65!
I often wonder whether men need to reevaluate their purpose, as we do, when our role as mom has run its course. The memories of my past career, although immensely satisfying, will not carry me through my ‘golden years.’ Can I feed off the fact that I hopefully touched the lives of some of the children that passed through my classroom? How do we feel valuable to our families and society again? These are all the things that I will be deliberating over the next while.
Today I will celebrate and I will rejoice in the fact that I am a mom to 3 fine sons, their partners and 2 amazing grandchildren. The reality is that my role as a mom is now over. Don’t for a minute think that some of your hard learnt lessons and your wisdom might come in handy to the younger generation. Oh no, it is seldom needed as it is all to be found on the internet! That lesson I have learnt. But I will continue to revel in the fact that I am a special ‘boy mom.’ I believe my boys chose me to play a part in shaping who they are today.
I could not be more proud.