Two of my greatest contributions to this world arrived almost a decade apart. The first of these contributions was delivered in 1991; all five pounds and six ounces of him. He instantly made me aware that my life would never be the same.
The love I felt for him was something I didn't even realize existed.
I wondered (almost 10 years later in the spring of 2001) if I would be able to feel that exact same love again when my second contribution was moments away from making his grand debut.
And amazingly, that same overwhelming feeling of love came pouring out.
There's an old say that goes - "to the world you are just one person but to me you are the world". This quote does a pretty decent job of summing up what a child means to his mother.
Oh, I'm sure father's feel the same way. But I am not a father. So, I dare not try to imagine or assume to know what a father feels when he stares at his sleeping son or daughter, or how much his heart aches when his little one comes home and falls in his arms and sobs uncontrollably because he doesn't think he has any friends at school, or how fast his heart races when he senses that his child is nervous or afraid of some seen or unforeseen obstacle.
I only know what I've felt. The joy. The pain. The amusement. The frustration. The pride. The love. And then....there's the fear.
The fear of realizing how ugly, bitter and cold this world can be; facing the realization that I (a mother) can't protect my children from the harshness life has a way of inflicting on us all at some point and time.
It seems that with each passing year we (mankind) become more and more desensitized to the needs of our fellow man. Somehow we feel we can live in this world without giving a damn about this world.
We turn our heads when a woman is being assaulted on the street. We speed off as that homeless guy is approaching our vehicle to ask for spare change. We cut clothes into shreds instead of donating them to charity.
We see photos like this and make the following comment
"Haiti is like New Orleans but 100 times worse… The population really has nothing to offer the world or its local economy sadly – its unlikely people are not going to give anything I think. Haiti like many poor counties need to realize if you have nothing to offer the world except being poor with no skills then they will receive little if any aide or help.
I just hope they all don’t end up on Americas’ door step looking for a place to live or more handouts…"
What kind of world do we live in......
