Ordinary Acts

The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.

Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)

When you think that Thomas Moore understood this concept over 200 years ago it makes you contemplate how much more important this it is in our day.

One thing I ache for and miss more than anything else since getting divorced is the ability to be at home with my kids. There would be some who would say that is is because I hate working or just want to be taken care of but the reality is that for me, I loved being a Mom and being there for my kids. The proclamation for the family talks about Women and their naturing and I feel that so much. When I think that at some point I will be a Grandma my heart jumps for JOY and waits in earnest for the time when I get to be everything my Mom was to my kids.

The simple act of service to the ones you love can and is the most rewarding aspect of ones life.

I have read the scripture story of Mary washing Jesus's feet so many times and it never brought greater meaning to me until my Mom got sick with Cancer and entered the hospital. The nurses here in Alberta are so overworked and taking care of the simple things for their patients is very difficult. They rely on family to help when they can and my sister and I took certain times of the day to stay and help Mom.

The chemo and the drugs made it impossible for Mom to bath herself so my sister and I took turns helping her with this task. Mom would apologize profusely that she was burdening us and in the beginnig she would be so embarrassed and she never quite understood how both of us saw it as such a privilege to just service her.

My Mom was such an incredible women. There was no chore in the care of her. She had serviced both of us our whole lives, It was an honor to be able to give something so simple back. In the end, both my Aunt and sister-in-law P helped out and all of use have commented since of the deeply spiritual and moving experience it was to participate in this simple act.

At first Mom would be so embarrassed and was nervous but when she understood that her time was coming she would use this time to bound in a way that only this act could allow.

I have studied the scriptures and the reasoning behind Mary's washing of Jesus feet and I know there is a much deeper spiritual meaning to it. For me, the Savior understood Mary's deep love and devotion to him and the act was a similitude of that love. In its unselfish and simple motions it spoke volumes to the dedication Mary had to her Savior and he understood the need Mary had to show him, in some way, that abiding love.

My Mom understood this too. In the end, as she became more helpless, she became more in tune with our needs in the letting of her go .I know she understood what we needed for it to be okay that she would be leaving soon. As hard as it was, even in the end, she thought more of our needs then her own.

I will be forever in her debt for the way it which she parented me, loved me, understood me and in the end, allowed me to grieve with her even before she left. Her unselfishness magnified itself right to the end. Her legacy is timeless. I continue to strive and work towards being half the women she was.

Some may believe that she wasn't everything she could have been but she was always true to herself and knew the real purpose and meaning to life. She understood the importance of family and dedication and sacrifice and though when she died she left no real material things what she did leave was a legacy in the hearts of all her children but more importantly she left a legacy in the hearts and minds of her grandchildren who all adored and love her to no end.

So now you can see why I wait in earnest to start being a Grandma. To think that someday I will be able to look into the eyes of a beautiful Grandson or Granddaughter and just be someone who loves them, with no conditions at all and that I can spoil them and care about them and just Yomomma them to complete Zen is such a satisfying feeling I can hardly wait.

I see it in W & P when they look at E. Mom's example is legendary. It is the meaning of life!

I miss her still. I always will.