Sweet. The word itself evokes a pleasant feeling in a person, because what is sweet can only be pleasant. Sweet life, my sweet wife/husband, my sweet country, our sweet mother tongue….
Our mother.
He gave us life, he took care of us, he timidly held our hands while we hesitantly took our first steps. He sat beside our bed worriedly, putting his hand on our forehead when we were suffering from illness or fever, he hugged us with love when we were already ashamed of his embrace. He must have been in pain from the teenage drag, but he never showed us that.
"My little girl/boy, take care of yourself!" - he sent us on our way every day, and until we became adults, it really annoyed us.
"Buy a sweater, buy a scarf, so you don't catch a cold!"
Do we still remember his unnecessary concern? Annoying. Yes, it was, because we had not yet understood what motherly love is.
Eternal fear, non-stop worry.
Mother! We really understand what it means to us when we ourselves worry about our children. Then we will understand the terrible weight of fear and love on the shoulders of mothers.
"Are you okay, my little girl/boy?" - he still asks every day, even though the "little girl" is already a mother herself, and the "little boy's" hair is growing quite a bit. But in the eyes of our mothers, we remain forever "small", forever children.
We owe them. Much, very much. But we can never pay off our debt, we can only try. We have to try, even though there is no "owes" and "demands" column for them, because what we receive from them does not expect anything in return.
Only love.
May all mothers be blessed!
(Cover image: kristienélét.hu)
