MY BEAUTIFUL MOTHER - Poem by Sandra Bender

Carolyn Gray never thought of herself as beautiful.
She is modest and self-critical,
Unable to see in the mirror how others see her.
Always room for improvement, she wore her best shoes
To the doctor’s office as well as to church.

Passengers on the hospital elevator
Said, “She is beautiful,” as she sat in her wheelchair.
As this happened more than once, she asked,
“Why do they say that?”
It was God’s way of saying, “Perfect strangers see your beauty.”

Mom’s beauty radiates from her soul.
She was honed by the hand of life, polished by hard work and pain.
She dedicated herself to others’ care without thought for herself.
She had two children alone while our father fought war and tuberculosis.
Later, as a farmer’s wife, she raised a garden and ran the household
While holding a full-time job.

Mom took in my father’s mother and tended to her for twenty years.
She looked after her sister, who died of cancer.
She cared for my father’s sister until her death from Alzheimer’s disease.
And she nursed her beloved husband as he made his final departure.
But that was not the end of her grief--Mom outlived her son, Hugh.
Burying a child must be the most difficult of tasks.

Mom could not do enough for her church.
Church members are like close family;
They know each other intimately as they pray with and for each other.
They study God’s word as they feed each other;
And too often now, they bury each other.

My brother and I were not easy to advise or guide.
Mom loved all we brought her with remarriages and new family groupings.
When we visited, Mom made pecan pies
To accompany big Southern home-cooked meals.
The house was cleaned top to bottom.
It’s just us, Mom. You don’t need to trouble yourself so much.

Mom’s beauty is most evident when she sees her great grandson, Sachin.
He lights her face like a rainbow colors the sky.
Of course, Mom loves all her children, but Sachin is special.
His innocence and joy resonate with her own.
He named her Big Grandma.

My mother’s beauty will always be with me,
Whenever I see a hummingbird, flowers, or a butterfly,
Lace on a pretty dress or a neatly decorated room,
A mowed and trimmed lawn or a baby laugh.
And she will be somewhere loving me
A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.

8/21/2010