As Mother’s Day draws near I want to pay tribute to all of the mothers who have had an influence on me and my life. I want to show my appreciation in this humble way. Obviously my mother was the first one to play such an important roll in the shaping of my life. I owe her a deeper debt of gratitude than words can express. She was a deeply devoted Christian and lived her faith so all could see who she was and what she stood for. Her only flaw was she was a full fledged Republican.
My second mother that I want to honor was my grandmother, Anna Prignitz. It goes without saying that she was my father’s mother and she was another woman in my life that I respected very much. And she was a mother at the same time as my mother for she bore a female just 25 days before I was born. So my Aunt Helen was my age.
I never knew my mother’s mother for she died when my mother was very young.
The third mother that I want to pay the utmost honor to was my first wife who presented me with three wonderful daughters. She raised them well and all three of them have given me grandchildren that I can be proud of. They in turn have all had children of their own who are the pride and joy of my life now.
The fourth mother that I want to extol is my present wife who is not only my wife, but my nurse, my caretaker, my Saint Rosie (I call her) She is really a blessing for me. She also has two daughters that I claim as part of my wonderful family.
It is with deep sadness that I must add that we lost Marsha Pino to cancer last year. That has been hard on Rosalie but she has kept the faith in spite of the sadness and has been a great comfort to her grand-children and her other daughter. (added 5/8/06) ejp
I close with a poem written by Quaker poet, John Greenleaf Whittier.
A picture memory brings to me;
I look across the years and see
Myself beside my mother's knee.
I feel her gentle hand restrain
My selfish moods, and know again
A child's blind sense of wrong and pain.
But wiser now,
a man gray grown,
My childhood's needs are better known.
My mother's chastening love I own.
John Greenleaf Whittier
.gif){kind=small}
