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To the editor:

Her day starts early. She makes her coffee and sits down at the kitchen table. She looks around at the very old and worn table. It should have been replaced years ago, but the kids ate on this table. These are the actual chairs they sat in. There are memories everywhere in this kitchen, replacing it is out of the question.

As she sips her coffee she stares out the window at the old oak tree in the backyard. She can’t help but smile as she wonders how many times over the years she has yelled out that door to tell Johnny to get down out of that tree before he falls and gets hurt. (That kid had a thing about trees.)

This old house is filled with memories, all of which are her favorites. One is tucking Mary into bed at night. The ritual was always the same.  Mary would give her a hug and say ”Mama, I sure do love you!”. Another is Johnny sitting at the kitchen table with chocolate icing all over his mouth and hands. He would look up at her with his bright eyes beaming and say “Mama, you sure do make good cakes!” (She knew that was just a ploy to get a second piece, and most of the time it worked.).

The house is quiet now, the silence is broken only by the mournful sound of the old grandfather clock in the hall.

She was always bewildered at the magical powers she had as a mother. When Johnny scraped his knee (climbing, of course) or Mary had an accident on her bike, they would come running to Mama. She was always amazed that a hug and kiss from Mama could dry their tears and make the pain go away.

The kids are gone now and they have lives of their own.  Oh, they’ll stop by once in a while for a few minutes and occasionally they might call. She spends most of her days going between her world as it used to be and her world as it is today. Frankly, she prefers the world that used to be, because in that world she knew she was needed. In her world today, sometimes she feels like she is just an inconvenience.

I wonder how many mothers and grandmothers there are whose daily routine is similar to this. If you still have a mother or grandmother, why not let them know that in your world, they’re not only wanted, they are also needed. And who knows, a big hug and a kiss from you might also dry tears and make pain go away.

Gene E. Plott,     Clemmons