The Dark Side of a Mother's Heart
Friday, August 31, 2007 at 02:08PM Yesterday, someone very dear to me had her heart broken by an unkept promise... one in a very long series of them, I'm afraid. To make matters worse, she is never actually denied the things she's been promised; instead, she gets offered rationales, excuses and postponements -- things that will keep her sympathetic to the person making the promises. So she nods dutifully, takes it on the chin, reaffirms her love and hangs up the phone.
It isn't until later, in the absence of the offending person, that the tears begin to fall.
And fall.
And fall.
Even the most stalwart adult I know can be reduced to this after enough heartache. But we aren't talking about an adult. "Someone very dear to me" is not yet seven years old.
Having a mother's heart is a terribly bittersweet gift. The more widely recognized and celebrated traits include giving ebullient praise, abundant hugs and kisses, and comfort in scary times. The nurturer, the protector -- the "mama lion," as I was once dubbed by a three-year-old I watched regularly -- is a powerful ally to have in your corner as a child... and a fearsome enemy to anyone who would put a child you love, even one you did not birth, through needless heartache.
Few of you have ever seen me lose my temper in the past, and I pray that fewer still will see it happen in the future. I have no intent to harm anyone, even someone who's causing a lot of pain to someone for whom I care deeply. But if it were in my power to keep this person in a room for a week with nothing but food, water, and a continuous recording of every time my beloved has wept aloud over another promise broken...
Reader Comments (1)
This is always a good one.
Remember that we are all like the man set upon by theives and left on the road to die. Were it not for the good Samaritan, none could be saved. Pray for those that offend, because those who deserve Love the least need it the most.