|
|
"Thanks for Everything", by Rich WadlandMany of you know that two years ago my little brother in my
fraternity died in a car accident. I took pride in telling people he was the
nicest person I ever knew. However I misspoke. I should have said he was
the nicest person I ever met. I never met my mom, she was always just
there for me. When I was an infant I never really learned to cry. All I
ever had to do to get any problem solved was simply make a single "waaah"
and mommy would show up in seconds and make everything all better. Throughout
grade school when I would get off the bus she would be waiting there eager to
hear about my day. As I got older I had to convince her that she couldn't wait
at the bus stop anymore and we compromised that she had to wait at the window of
the house and once the bus had driven out of sight she could open the front
door. Aside from the obvious difficulties with losing your
mother, I finally realized why the last few days have been so hard for me. This
is the first thing I've ever had to face in my life without my mother by my
side. She often cared more about me more than I do. My dad and I
have a running joke with her about what to do when something bad happens to us.
You call her and say the phrase "I'm OK" as the first sentence and
then go from there. She didn't care about anything else in the world unless she
knew we were safe. She was a mother and a wife. Whenever anyone asked her what
her occupation was she would proudly say "housewife". If anyone questioned why she
didn't have a "real" job, she would proudly say that she has the best
job in the world. She got to spend all of her time taking care of the two most
important things in her life. And for anyone who wonders how she kept busy, I
now realize that taking care of my dad really is a full-time job. Vera, your husband has one of the highest technical
positions in his company. I'm about to graduate from one of the top engineering
schools in the country. Neither of us could have done it without you, so one
last time, thanks for everything. I love you, mom.
|
|
This page was last updated on 01/21/08. |
