BRENT’S BIRTHDAY AND MOTHER’S DAY

When two great occasions collude,

you get a

BIG BANG.

YES!

Correspondence with Brent (in St. Louis on bike business):

On 5/13/2012 8:44 AM, Brent Hugh wrote:

Happy Mother's Day!

Hope you're fully enjoying your traditional annual feelings

of guilt and inferiority!—Brent—

“and,” I add, “remorse, regret, inadequacy, . . .”

“yet THANKFULNESS for beautiful children

who are better than I am,

so I have not lived in vain.

Oh yes, and

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.

The day you were born was the happiest day of my life.

The others added upon immeasurably.

I love you, Mom”

Mother, Grandmother, long-awaited (7 years, two weeks, and 36 hours) for baby, Brent on his blessing day.

Brent, 9 months.

Brent, 9 years old, Grandma Esplin.  March 1972

I'm also in awe of my own mom on this day.

I know of no one who had more courage and valor than she.
I think of the responsibility of rearing eight kids alone

with no formal education and no opportunities.

Except for a miracle of sorts.

And the brief wonder years with Uncle Ed.

Suffering with a brain tumor for over twelve excruciating years;

with medical help 300 miles away.

How lonely that must have been for her.

Thank heavens she had us, eh?

Especially now, I think of her often;

Marveling how she did it.

By nature, she was fun loving.

However, by the time I knew her,

she had so many heavy burdens

that I didn’t grasp her playful nature

until we started working on her life story.

Still, she took the time to do the things that matter most –

Visiting the shut-ins.

Taking treats to every widow in town on holidays.

Tending two gardens,

bottling, hoeing, scrubbing, quilting;

especially her beloved calling

as Orderville Ward’s first Junior Sunday School Coordinator

in the last years of her life.

She was always there for us

even though she worked as Postmaster full time,
attending high school basketball games,
plays, and like most adults in town,
was a spectator at the dances.

How did she do it?

Everyday is Mother’s Day when I think of her.

Incredible.