By Lynette Parker
For years
I bought into the commercialism of Mother’s
Day. With great happiness I went out and purchased
flowers, candy and cards for my mother to show
my deep love and appreciation for her. However,
this year, Mother’s Day will be a somber
occasion. My brother, sisters and I face our first
Mother’s Day after her passing.
My mother, Rosilyn Louise Parker, was (and in legacy
still is) the foundation of our family. She departed this life on Dec. 24, 2006.
Now as Mother’s Day approaches I grapple with the question ‘what
do I get her?’ This question had already become a difficult one to answer
since for 7 years prior to her passing, she lay bedridden at Alta Bates Medical
Center in Berkeley suffering from multiple sclerosis. The cards had to be read
to her, the flowers had to be held up close so she could see them and there was
no longer use for candy because she was being fed through a tube.
Over the years,
all I would need to do to inspire purchase of the perfect card, flowers, statuette
or perfume was to reflect upon how much she had meant to us. She was a stay-at-home
mom who raised us on her wits along with assistance from the government. My mother
was the single-mother, head-ofthe- household that is all too familiar in many
African-American homes. But she held great promise for us, and provided us with
courage to face a world of dissension coming from our background of poverty and “minority” status.
So, to her, my first gift is my gratefulness. I am all too grateful for the life
that she led in her 54 years here. It was one of quiet courage, and on-going
strength. Her life did not make the papers or inspire a book or movie, but it
is the life from which five others sprang and these lives continue to touch others
in the world.
My second gift to my mother, besides my gratefulness, is my life.
Now more than ever, my life’s accomplishments and contributions to humanity
are my gift to my mother. As I grow and succeed in this world, I take my mother,
Rosilyn Louise Parker, with me. When I do good, and help out in a community that
so many believe to be in disrepair, I want people to know that I am Rosilyn’s
child. I now look at Mother’s Day differently. I won’t take flowers
to her grave site – I am not ready for that. My gift now is my life.
Happy
Mother’s Day Mama.
