My mom was not cool and I have the facts to prove it.
She was older, and slower-moving than the other kids’ moms. She was basically a farmer. Her clothes were a mix of bargains when she found the time or energy to shop. Going to the hair salon was never important to her. And she was not a big talker; most would never even notice her presence. In a kid’s mind—in my mind—she was very uncool!
Perspective change
It has taken several years—along with maturity on my part, and looking back at my mom’s life with different, more gracious and loving eyes—to actually see her for the person she really was. I now realize the essence of my mother had nothing to do with her occupation, clothes, hairstyle, or social impressions.
My mother’s quiet nature made it possible for me to have no memory of gossip in my home of origin. There was also not a hint of competition—except maybe in an occasional board game.
Somehow the natural blows of life seemed to take the fight out of Mom and left her with a peaceful calmness that accepted life as it came. She never openly complained about her lot in life. Difficulties she encountered along the way included a great deal of loss: her son died at the age of five, followed by her sister, and then her father, mother, two brothers-in-law, and finally her husband—my father—all within a ten-year span. I was only nine-years-old when my father died, which means much of my mother’s loss and grief happened at the same time she was raising me. Mom was left to manage a farm that was the sole income that funded the provision for my two older brothers and me.
My mother died over thirty years ago, and now I wish I could be as content as she was and embrace the “uncoolness” of living simply—yet honorably—requiring very little, and generously giving from a meager income and resources.
Moms can be so uncool while also having the richest lives imaginable! On Mother’s Day from here on out, it is my intention to care less about my coolness and give more thought and gratitude for my “new” and improved outlook on life—mainly due to my mom’s very cool character!