MY MOTHER...

WAS FOURTEEN YEARS OLD WHEN THE BLACK FAMILY WHO ADOPTED HER, MADE HER LEAVE SCHOOL. THE HUSBAND AND WIFE HAD THREE CHILDREN OF THEIR OWN THAT THEY ALLOWED TO COMPLETE THEIR EDUCATION. MY MOTHER WAS BEAUTIFUL BOTH INSIDE AND OUT AND AT TIMES WHEN SHE WOULD TELL ME IN A VOICE THAT DIDN'T FALTER OR LOOK FOR SYMPATHY, SAID, "I'VE HAD A HARD LIFE"...THAT'S ALL SHE'D SAY...WHEN I WOULD CATCH HER WEEPING AND WOULD ASK HER WHY SHE WAS CRYING, SHE'D SAY, WELL, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT SHE SAID, BECAUSE I COULD TELL FOR AS LONG AS I COULD REMEMBER THAT SHE SEEMED TO ALWAYS HAVE TO BE STRUGGLING... I REMEMBER BEING WITH HER WHEN SHE KNOCKED ON A FRIEND'S DOOR, SOUNDING SCARED TO DEATH, AS I STOOD IN THE HALLWAY AND WATCHED NEARBY, AS MRS TAYLOR, A LOVELY PERSON, AND MY MOTHER SAID, "DO YOU THINK YOU CAN HELP ME I NEED TO BORROW MONEY TO PAY THE RENT"... MRS TAYLOR SAID, "WAIT HERE" AND SHE RETURNED SHORTLY AND GAVE MY MOTHER MONEY, I THINK SHE PLACED IT IN HER HAND, AND WHEN MY MOTHER SAID, "I'LL PAY YOU BACK" AND THANKING HER OF COURSE, MRS. TAYLOR NODDED, SHE UNDERSTOOD, WOMAN TO WOMAN, THEY UNDERSTOOD EACH OTHER. I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS GOING ON. I THINK MY OLDER BROTHER BOBBY KNEW MUCH MORE THAN I DID, THOUGH WE WERE ONLY FOUR YEARS APART. MY MOTHER ALWAYS BELIEVED IN ME THAT I WOULD DO WELL AND EVENTUALLY BUY HER HER DREAM HOME, THAT'S ALL SHE REALLY EVER WANTED, WAS A HOME OF HER OWN, AND I COULD NEVER FULLY UNDERSTAND WHY SHE WAS HAVING SUCH A DIFFICULT TIME. BOTH OF MY PARENTS WORKED. MOM WAS ALWAYS GOING INTO THE HOSPITAL IT SEEMED, AND I REMEMBER WALKING INTO HER HOSPITAL ROOM, AND I SAW WHAT WAS NOTHING LESS THAN A MUTALATED BODY...THERE WERE SO MANY OPERATIONS SHE HAD BEEN THROUGH, AND THIS LATEST ONE WAS DUE TO HER GAUL BLADDER...WHEN THE NURSE SAW ME, SHE QUICKLY PULLED THE CURTAIN SO THE VIEW OF MY MOTHER WAS BLOCKED...I GOT USED TO BEING IN HOSPITALS AND VISITING MOM FROM A VERY EARLY AGE...DID I HAPPEN TO MENTION THAT THE FAMILY THAT HAD ADOPTED MY MOTHER WERE RELIGIOUS, THE HUSBAND WAS A METHODIST MINISTER UP IN BEACON NY AND HIS WIFE WAS AN USHER AT A LOCAL BAPTIST CHURCH IN OSSINING... MY MOTHER WAS WAY ABOVE AVERAGE IN INTELLIGENCE AND I WONDERED WHY WOULD THEY REMOVE HER FROM SCHOOL WHAT DID THEY HAVE IN MIND FOR HER? I BELIEVE I KNOW, AND HOW IRONIC THAT NO ONE TOLD ME, I FIGURED IT OUT, BECAUSE OF A NOVEL I WAS WRITING AT THE TIME AND I WAS LOOKING FOR PLOT POINTS. MY MOTHER WAS A WAR BABY AND SO WAS I. WE ARE BOTH WAR HORSES I GUESS YOU'D SAY, WELL I WOULD. WE WORK AND WORK AND WORK WITHOUT LET UP NOT JUST FOR OUR OWN SURVIVAL BUT OTHERS AS WELL. MY MOTHER WAS ALWAYS COOKING AND BAKING AND KEEPING THE HOUSE CLEAN AND NEAT, ALWAYS MAKING AN ORDINARY APARTMENT INTO A HOME, AND I WONDERED WHEN GOD WAS GOING TO GIVE US A BREAK, OR DID HE JUST FORGET ABOUT US. WE WERE NOT BAD PEOPLE, AND I SAW HOW MY MOTHER WAS CONSTANTLY BEATEN DOWN AND I SAID INWARDLY THAT THIS IS NOT FAIR, WHAT DID WE DO? WE HADN'T DONE ANYTHING EXCEPT WE WERE BORN FEMALE, AT THE WRONG TIME AND PLACE I GUESS, SO, I'M GLAD THAT THINGS ARE FINALLY CHANGING AROUND, SO NO ONE AGAIN EVER HAS TO GO THROUGH THE HELL THAT MY MOTHER HAD TO GO THROUGH BECAUSE SHE WAS NOT ONLY SMART, BUT BEAUTIFUL AS WELL. SHE WOULD ALWAYS SAY,"REMEMBER GOD NEVER PUTS MORE ON YOU THAN WHAT YOU'RE ABLE TO BEAR" MY MOTHER MORE THAN EARNED HER STRIPES, ON THAT ONE, RAISING TWO CHILDREN VIRTUALLY BY HERSELF, BY THESE DECEITFUL AND TOXIC INDIVIDUAL THAT SHE HAD TO REFER TO AS "MA" AND "PA" AND THEY WERE NEITHER. MY WORK ETHIC CAME FROM BOTH PARENTS, I STARTED WORKING ON THE WEEK-ENDS AT 13 AT H&L GREENS IN GETTY SQUARE,IN YONKERS, NY. I NEVER MINDED WORKING, AND GOD WAS GOOD, I WAS ABLE TO EARN GOOD MONEY, AND BOUGHT TWO HOMES AND PROPERTY, AND INVESTED,AND THEN AT A CERTAIN AGE, 70 AND A HALF, IS WHEN THE RUG WAS PULLED OUT FROM UNDER ME, AND LIFE SUDDENLY TOOK A TURN FOR THE WORSE, THOUGH I WAS LUCKIER THAN MY MOTHER, FOR AT LEAST I WAS ABLE TO EARN A BETTER THAN AVERAGE LIVING, NOT UNFORTUNATELY IN THE PROFESSION I DESIRED, AS AN ACTRESS, WRITER, AND I RECALL READING AN OLD INTERVIEW WHICH APPEARED IN THE LOCAL PAPER YEARS AGO, RIGHT AFTER I HAD GOTTEN "SHAFT", MORE REALISTICALLY THE WORD SHOULD BE SHAFTED, BUT THE INTERVIEWER HAD ASKED MY MOTHER HOW SHE FELT ABOUT MY SUCCESS (THAT PART IS LAUGHABLE, SUCCESS?)AND MY MOTHER'S ANSWER WILL PROVIDE A CLUE AS TO THE KIND OF WOMAN SHE WAS, SHE SAID, AND I'M PARAPHRASING,MY MOTHER HAD TOLD THE REPORTER THAT SHE WAS NEVER STAR STRUCK (A PRACTICAL WOMAN IN THIS REGARD).."SHE'S DOING WHAT SHE REALLY WANTS AND THAT'S WHAT'S IMPORTANT...I'M HAPPY FOR HER AS LONG AS SHE'S HAPPY" WHICH WAS SO TYPICAL OF MY MOTHER. ALL THAT SHE HAD SURVIVED AND STILL SHE HAD A REALISTIC OUTLOOK ON LIFE, DEFINETLY NOT ONE TO LOOK AT LIFE THROUGH ROSE COLORED GLASSES, AS UNDOUBTEDLY SHE ONCE HAD, HADN'T WE ALL A LONG TIME AGO. THOSE WHO HAD ADOPTED HER TOOK AND GAVE NOTHING BACK, AND THEY WERE ALLEGEDLY THE PILLARS OF THE COMMUNITY, THAT'S THE WAY THE WORLD WORKED BACK THEN, THE BAD GOT ALL THE BREAKS, WHILE THE GOOD SUFFERED, JUST FOR BEING GOOD. THANK GOD NOW I TRULY BELIEVE THAT THE WORLD IS GETTING BETTER, FINALLY, AND MY MOTHER SHOULD BE AT THE TOP OF THAT LIST FOR FIRST TIER POSITION IN THE GLOBAL PLAN, IF ANYBODY SHOULD. (C)COPYRIGHTED BY GWENDOLYN L MITCHELL ON SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2015 AT 12:01 AM, LA,CA 90046,USA REVISED 4/19/15 AT 4:19AM