My mother is an extraordinary person. At 85 she’s sharp, funny, strong; full of life and love. 

Mama told me once that all she ever wanted to be in life was a wife and a mother.  The second part of that goal was fulfilled early as I was born when she was only 21; followed by Bob a year and two days after my birth, followed by Lauree a year and ten months later, followed by Jim a year and ten months later, followed by Steve a year and eight months later.  

Let’s do the math together:  Mom and Dad were married in February 1954.  (Goal #1 to be a wife…met.) Within the first seven years and two months of their marriage, she gave birth to five children.  (Goal #2 to be a mom…met.) Five children all within 18 months or less; each one very different, alive, active, and needy, always under her very sore feet.  It’s no wonder I have no memory of her smiling as I grew up.

And there were two more to come; Pete in 1971 and Katie in 1973.  A total of seven.  

My mother, all 5 feet 1 or 2 inches tall with a bad right foot and back issues with seven children, was always in absolute control.  Papa used to call her “Mighty Mouse”.  I referred to her secretly as “the Little General.” I saw her rule with an iron “fly swatter”, creating an unbreakable routine and making daily decisions for all of us without flinching.  She seemed almost military and regimented; limping through each day, as I saw her; fearlessly.

How did she do it? How does she still do it?  Now at 85 and being a Grandma of ?? and Great Grandma of ??  The answer is, Faith.  

Mama is a very devout Catholic which is something that has sustained her throughout her life.  I know this because we were raised Catholic and I went through all of the various Rites, Sunday Mass, and weekly Rosaries; a devotional prayer to Mother Mary. She still attends Mass when she and Papa can. 

I was visiting one weekend a year ago or so and had the chance to talk with Mama about those ‘good ol’ days’. She was very open with me about what it was really like for her during those years.  I believe the word she used was, ‘terrified’. “I was terrified that if I lost control I didn’t know what I’d do. So I prayed; a lot”.  That was not what I expected to hear. Fear was the last thing I saw in Mama. But; that was her experience: Fear and prayer.

On my way home from the visit I had four hours to think about that new understanding of Mama’s life as Mother; her fear and the prayer that kept her focused and strong.  I imagined Mama in those moments of prayer, and the song, Mama’s Prayer was heard almost completely by the time I was home.

I love this song for so many reasons but none more than I believe it allows me to enter into the heart of my Mother whom I cherish, respect and admire beyond words.

Thanks: I have never written a multi-narrative story before and knew that it needed just the right voices to tell it as well as could be done. My deepest thanks to Olivia for voicing Mama,Kelli for voicing Mother Mary, and Lindsay for voicing Lauree. I love you so much.