Jack Knight
- Filed Under
- Opinion
A mother's love is akin to God's; It's infinite, unconditional and always there. She will feed you when you're hungry, visit you when you are sick and go your bail from jail, even when you are guilty as sin.
Miss Tressie, our mamma, was our source of unconditional love. She saw us through the good times and the bad times. It was the times that tried our pangs of hunger, a time of the Great Depression.
Miss Tressie loved the small joys of living and accepted, with dignity, it's inevitable sorrows that came with life; and she always kept her faith in God. She was the most compassionate person I ever knew.
It didn't take much to please my mamma. She was happy when most folks couldn't see anything to smile about.
Miss Tressie's life was her children and she believed in education. Maybe it was because she came from meager means and only finished eighth grade. Anyway she went through many hardships to make sure all her children finished high school.
My mamma plowed the mule and worked the fields so her children would not have to miss school, and she was overjoyed when two of them graduated college with degrees in engineering and mathematics.
Mamma's kitchen was equipped with an old wood burning stove, and running water came from the deep-water well down by the road.
Her washing machine was a clutter of leaky tubs, an old washboard and a big black wash pot. And of course we children studied by a kerosene lamp. Somehow she always found time to starch and iron our two complete outfits for each child which we swapped out at mid-week. These clothes were all we had and they were worn only during school and church hours. A pair of overalls was our work attire of the day.
Mamma was always the last to eat dinner and when we had chicken she only loved the wing, not two wings; one. We children were grown before we figured this one out
She never bought clothes for herself. When she did, it was a few yards of gingham which Miss Troy, her sister, sewed into a dress.
My mother and Miss Troy wore the same winter coat for several years. That must have been true because I never saw two of the coats at the same time. But as I said, we were slow when it came to understanding hard times.
At the age of 85 my mother was still collecting beer cans along the roadside, mowing her yard and caring for my invalid dad. At 91 Miss Tressie, sadly but with resolve entered the nursing home and became a model patient who inspired others.
Now, as I reflect upon my memories of Miss Tressie I realize we loved her very much but often took her for granted.
We felt safe and secure and possibly smug in knowing she would always be there for us. Mamma died, one afternoon, still in good spirits to the end. She was 93.
Do you still have your mother? Call or visit her now because she's the only person in this world whose love for you is infinite and unconditional.
Well, maybe old Bo's is too, if he's still around.
Jack Knight is a retired Los Angeles City Schools computer science and mathematics teacher. He can be reached at knight3230@bellsouth.net.
