Point of Commonality

 

A Point of Commonality

By John W. Vander Velden

 

Each of us are individuals, unique in many ways. That uniqueness makes the mass of humanity so amazing. For it might seem impossible that billions of people are all different in one way or another, but we are. But it is those differences that give depth to what we call the human race. The world is made richer by the contrasts, for each of us adds a bit of color to the canvas that makes up our world.

And yet, even with all our differences, we share at least one point of commonality.

For whatever your gender, whatever your ethic heritage, whatever pigment makes up your skin, whatever geological area you find yourself, whatever measuring stick can be used to distinguish one from another, there are things we have in common.

And among the things we share is a simple fact…we have or had a mother.

In the United States we designate this coming Sunday as Mother’s Day. It is a day that can evoke a wide range of emotions. Emotions of those that are mothers, and those that for reasons, sometimes painful reasons, are not.

And yet we have all been born and therefore have that common connection to every other person on this planet. Though I know it is not true in this imperfect world, that each of us has had a wonderful mom, yet we should take a few moments to recognize our mother. To consider how our lives were shaped, hopefully for the good, by the woman that helped to raise us.

To me that is the real reason for Mother’s Day. To take some time out of lives and reflect, to remember, and to try, as best we can, to understand our moms.

 So, I look back and consider the woman that was only twenty-three when she married. World II was part of the recent past, too close a memory, for someone that grew up in an occupied country. To that point her whole life had been one of limited resources…the depression…the war…the aftermath of war’s destruction. I try to imagine her as a young woman with hopes and dreams, for surely, she had them. But my memories of mom begin later. I was after all the second born, and my mom was a wife of four and half years at my arrival, and my conscious recollections certainly do not reach back that far.

But I do remember clearly the mother of four, a few years before my youngest brother joined the brood. I remember the years that followed, of the moves, and the restarting of our lives. I remember times of her frustration, for often our lives included difficulties and setbacks. But if there is one thing I remember most clearly, from all those years, it would be sacrifice, and the understanding that it was only through sacrifice that the impossible might be achieved.

Mom did without. And at the time I did not notice just how much she was so willing to sacrifice, and just how many years she did. But what an important lesson I learned from that example. You see I could have gone in two very different directions. I could have had an unquenchable desire for all the things I felt denied. Or I could have seen, that only through hard work and doing without, greater things could be possible.

Knowing there never was a guarantee of success.

But the years of watching both my parents, seeing the team they made, how they worked as equals, sacrificed as equals, I learned to look further down the road. To see the possible achievements in the future.

So, I understand I received more from my mom than the color of my eyes. I carry a small share of her determination…as well as optimism that in the end things will work out for the good.

This Sunday I will think about my parents, and especially my mom. And I will thank God for her, my point of commonality with all others.

I love you mom and I know that God, through his grace, has given you the rest you have so dutifully earned…much more, the rest you deserve.

5-12-2023 (711 Words)