The Person I Admire the Most

Category: People Who Have Blessed My Life | Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 4:33 am

I guess I could have put this under family, it would fit there too. But this person has been a blessing to me all of my life. She is my Mom, and at 84 years old she continues to be an immense blessing to me. Let me tell you why I admire her so much.

My mother was born with a degenerative bone disease. It is a form of dwarfism. She is probably only about 4ft. 6 inches, maybe. This never stopped her. She had seven children, raised 6, lost one. My youngest brother was born with one kidney, which was malfunctioning. She stayed at the hospital 2 years with him and after 22 surgeries he finally came home. It is only by the efforts of one doctor, Dr. Rowena Spencer, that he survived. And the loving care of a mother who would not leave him in the hands of the nurses, a mother who had to make a choice of leaving her other 5 children at home to stay with her sick baby. My mother, even when she was younger, could not easily get up and down steps. My Dad built a rail for her to hold on to so she would be able to motivate them. I can remember her washing clothes by hand, hauling water in to heat for our bathes, wringing chickens necks and plucking them and cleaning them, hoeing a huge garden, directing us to pick the vegetables so she could clean them and can them, staying up till 2 in the morning cleaning crawfish for the freezer, plus doing the housework and cooking. She never stopped, she would have had every excuse not to work the way she did, but she never used it. She never complained, she just did what she had to do for her family, never thinking of herself. When she finally went to the doctor for her bones he was amazed. He told her everytime she had a baby, the birthing process displaced her hips a little more. He was surprised that she could walk at all. She has had both hips replaced 2 times. The last surgery did not go well. The doctor bothced it, he did not rebuild her pelvic bone and the hip joint had nothing solid to hold to and it crumbled, a week later he redid the surgery, this time rebuilding the pelvic bone. A week later he was back in pulling everything out and fusing the hip with no artifical joint in it because of massive infection. She almost died, and that is the closest I have ever seen her to giving up. She was in a rehab hospital for 3 months learning how to walk again. None of it ever stopped her. At 82 she was still cooking and washing her dishes. She now can not do those things anymore. I feel honored to be able to do for her now, after she has given me so much, after she devoted her life to raising her family. Many people would have given up long ago.

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glendann wrote on Sat Dec 02, 2006 6:57 am:

Wow what a fantastic women.Reminds me of my mom so much.I was proud to be able to take care of mine
before she died .She was 86
yrs old.One of the hardest working women I ever knew .I would love to meet you special lady Cajunbelle.

eileen wrote on Sat Dec 02, 2006 10:34 am:

Your mum is certainly an exceptional lady Sharon and she is soooo lucky to have a daughter like you!!

bethie wrote on Sat Dec 02, 2006 1:05 pm:

What a lovely Mother you are blessed to have.

pondlady wrote on Sat Dec 02, 2006 2:05 pm:

Your mother is one helluva woman, Sharon. Isn't it great that the world has had her all these years.

BTW, I knew Rowena for 25 years. We had more than one scotch and water at the same table.

Gardenstew wrote on Sat Dec 02, 2006 2:18 pm:

Sharon what a strong mother you have. Very touching to hear how she stayed with your brother for the 2 years, that's amazing. I doubt many could do that.

I know it must be hard to sum up how much your mother means to you in one blog entry but I think you got your point across very well.