Who ran to help me when I fell, And would some pretty story tell, Or kiss the place to make it well? My Mother.-Jane and Ann Taylor Original Poems for Infant Minds "My Mother"
I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. -Abraham Lincoln
The older I become, the more I think about my mother.-Ingmar Bergman
I laughed when I first read the above quote because I have found it to be so true! More with each year that passes and especially in my field of work I find my heart growing in thankfulness for the loving supportive family God has blessed me with. Even if my family is currently living in all different states and we don’t see each other often I know if I need advise or encouragement or a good laugh each of them is only a phone call away.
I don’t talk about my work much mostly because of confidentiality reasons I am not aloud to share much. But in someway I want to today because I would like my family to know how much I appreciate their love and that their love helps me to in turn love so many. I love because I have been loved.
With each homeless youth that comes through I have to complete a comprehensive assessment to assess where we can best help them. There is one question that I have to ask them that gets me every time. The question is..” How many people in your family would you say have been supportive to you?” Under supportive it lists different types of support such as emotional, financial, clothing, shelter, food, etc. About 95% of the time they respond by saying, “None”. The remaining 5% list an Aunt, Grandparent, never a father or a mother. I thank God every day that if any one ever asked me that question there would be too many to list. God has blessed me with a rich life.
The other day at work I was explaining to a young man that had not followed some of the rules that he was going to have to speak to my supervisor about his consequence. I was trying to lighten the mood and joked with him that it is kind of like when you are a kid and you have to wait for your dad to get home for your punishment. The young man looked at me with a confused face and responded with,” I didn’t ever have that privilege. I never had a dad.”
I was talking with a young man I have been working with about job searching and interviews. In the middle of our conversation he asked, "Miss Elizabeth, Are you a mother?" I said, "No". There was a moment of silence then I asked him, "Do I seem like it?" He said, "Yea that's why I asked." I thought about his statement for a moment before letting him in on something I don't say often and that is, "Well I feel like I have been a mother a hundred times over." He paused in thought then said, “Why because of all of us?" I said, "Yes because of the way I love all of you."
I always wanted to be the mother my mother is to me. I see now that God has answered that prayer. Every day I wake up and I have this amazing opportunity to be my mother to so many young people that have no one.
I feel honored to have so many kids to love. I feel honored that God has given me this job to not only let them know they are not invisible but they are loved. They are loved more than they know.
