Blog 65 - Tell Him "I'll Be There"

Blog 65

Tell Him, “I’ll Be There”: A Mother’s Love

by

Vernon M. Herron

For those of you who have read my life’s story, you may know of my humble beginnings. My father died when I was one year of age, leaving my mother with six children to rear alone. The achievements of my siblings were noteworthy: one did construction work, two worked for the Federal Reserve System, one was a cosmetologist, one was a trained nurse and one was/is a minister. Regarding the engagement of each sibling, the pursuit of each was noteworthy with accolades. However, one sibling was called the “black sheep” of the family, I suppose because he was always getting into trouble and not following “the law.”

For the sake of anonymity, I will call this sibling “sheep.” This story is about “sheep,” a mother’s love and is the second in a series of reported childhood experiences.

As an early teen-ager, I assumed many male adult functions of the home, as most of my siblings had left the homestead. I remember one day a portion of the bedroom ceiling fell to the floor, narrowly missing my head. I quickly learned how to plaster and to repair the broken ceiling. My! that made me feel like a helpful child taking on adult responsibilities.

Let me give you another example. My mother chronically had back pain suffering from degeneration of bone and muscles. Heat seemed to have given some relief. After heating irons at the open fire or on the heater, I would apply the same to her back for ease. This seemed to give her some temporary relief.

One day as I was administering to my mother with a hot iron, the phone rang and I answered. The caller said, “your brother was in a fight and was almost killed, he wants his mother to come and help him. He wants to know, will she, and how soon?” I thought that I was speaking for my mother when I said, “tell ‘sheep’ mother is sick in bed with pains in her back. I am applying heat with a hot iron! and besides, tell him to call his friends with whom he has spent his life’s substance for help.” Just at that moment, mama jumped out of bed, snatching the phone away from me, saying, “you are beside yourself boy! That’s my child too.” Then she said to the caller, “tell ‘sheep’ that I’ll be there shortly.”

This was a demonstration of a mother’s love.

Mother O’Mine

By

Rudyard Kipling

If I were hanged on the highest hill,

Mother O’ mine, O mother o’ mine!

I know whose love would follow me still,

Mother O’ mine, O mother o’ mine!

If I were drowned in the deepest sea,

Mother O’ mine, O mother o’ mine!

I know whose tears would come down to me,

Mother O’ mine, O mother o’ mine!

If I were damned of body and soul,

I know whose prayers would make me whole,

Mother O’ mine, O mother o’ mine!