Daily Cascade

Mothers

Prompt: Mothers
Did you ever believe that mothers really had eyes in the backs of their heads? And what about mothers in spirit? Was there anyone in your family or among friends who acted as a spiritual mother to you or to someone else that you know of?

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Three women, in addition to my mother, have been mother figures in my life. They were my aunt who couldn't have a child of her own, my grandmother, and my grandmother's foster daughter whose only son died soon after he was born. I am very lucky to have so many mothers in my life and that my existence helped to fill a certain need in them.

As to my mother's eyes in the back of her head, Haha! I don't know about if I ever thought my mother had eyes in the back of her head, but I certainly thought she was psychic, in the least, so I never lied to her, well, at least while I was growing up.

This was partly due to her elevating her motherhood to godly levels. She repeated this very convincingly: "I know what's happening to you at any time. I know your liver, your intestines, your lungs and all that you carry inside you, because you are part of me." And the other three "mothers" backed her up.

And silly me, I believed every word of this until maybe I turned ten or so. Then, I began testing her in small ways. Yet, I so believe that she did love me. I was her only child and I was very obedient until I hit my thirteenth year. Then, the storms showed up. Luckily enough, my mother and I did both recover from my "difficult years" and by the time, I was sixteen, we were friends again.

Then, several years later, I became a mother myself to two very lively boys. They were quite happy, free, and well-fed, and never in my life, I acted like I knew everything about them. I let them fill me in with whatever they felt like telling me about themselves, and that's fine, too. Now, they are two very independent men and the exact opposites of each other. At times, my late husband and I used to wonder: "Who raised them!"

In hindsight, though, as fantastic as my sons turned out to be, I sometimes wonder if I should have told them what my mother told me to keep me in line: "I know what's happening to you at any time. I know your liver, your intestines, your lungs and all that you carry inside you, because you are part of me."

Yet, I am happy my sons are who they are and that who they are has been their own choice. Truth is, I don't really know about their livers, intestines, lungs, or such. I just hope they keep on being decent and loving human beings, whether I'm around or not.