Mom & Me & Mom

Purple fish

I just finished listening to  a wonderful autobiography by Maya Angelou, called Mom & Me and Mom.  I loved that the book was read in her own sonorous voice.  As you can imagine, Maya spoke about what it means to be a mother.
Towards the end,  she asks what is a Mother? She answers by saying that she is someone that  always has your back and "stands in the gap". I was immediately struck by that and began to tear up. Just as I finished listening to these words, my brother calls from Florida and I relay the same words. His response was "are you referring to our mother"?  I said no that I am not sure that she really understood these words. I asked do you feel that you stand in the gap for your children. He said oh yes, always.

I am often catching my three siblings off guard by asking them serious questions when all they wanted to do was to catch up or relay a piece of information. My mind is always thinking about how this movie or that book has meaning in my life. I guess that I can get pretty intense about things.... . Anyway, Maya's meaning of a mother rang so true for me. We are always mothers and we can play the role gracefully or with resistance. I love being a mother even though at times I am not sure that I have always been very gracious.
 Now, I will have to figure out what being a grandmother means...