Mothers

My Mothers Day post....yes, I realize it's August. Pregnancy....enough said.

Sometime in April as I sat at my desk nearly going cross eyed with some excel reports for work, I decided to move my operation downstairs and turn on some trash TV. This usually distracts me from thinking of all my to do's and I can finish my work.  Sadly the Kardashians were too busy getting their hair done and TLC had a marathon of What Not To Wear on.  Since I could star on that show I usually try and avoid it. 

Still flipping I came across a documentary on HBO, Ethel.  http://youtu.be/a9QuQB5TMiM. 

At first I didn't have a clue who that was. I quickly read the info, Ethel Kennedy, married to Robert F. Kennedy. Ok, I'm in. 

The documentary was produced and filmed by her youngest daughter, Rory.  Rory interviewed her mother, Ethel, and siblings (almost all ten), giving a history of her mothers life. The story of Ethel Kennedy wasn't an easy story to tell. Ethel has had many hardships, losing her husband, a son, brother in law, and so on. 

As I sat and watched her life unfold, I wept. Not because of the losses she suffered, and they were great, because she is one of the best examples of a mother I've ever witnessed.

Shortly before RFK was killed Ethel had learned she was pregnant with their 11th child.  Ethel Kennedy never strayed from the parenting ideals she and her husband had set forth. When her children wanted to learn to swim, she taught them.  When they wanted to learn to ski, play football, sail, ride horses, she taught them.  Their home was often filled with many animals, they did not live on a farm, yet she had just about every kind of farm animal.  She wanted her children to learn to take care of animals.  She'd take her children to Capitol Hill so they could learn how hard their father worked for his country. 

In the face of tragedy her faith never wavered. Each night the family knelt together in prayer. Ethel planted seeds of love and service in the hearts of her children and nurtured them to grow strong. 

This is the mother I'd like to be. Strong and immovable in faith. Dedicated to serving others. The ability to use my experiences to teach my children everything they'll need to learn to be successful in this life. Most importantly to love.