By By Kerry Whipple Bean
When my first Mother’s Day rolled around last year, I hadn’t done much to deserve any accolades yet.
Christopher was hardly more than a month old — my only contribution so far was keeping him healthy for four weeks (well, four weeks and nine months), and even that was not nearly as hard as I thought it was at the time.
A year later, despite 13 months that included some long nights of crying and half a dozen ear infections, I still don’t feel I deserve a special day. I’ve received far so much every day in the past year — sweet hugs and smiles and giggles — that I don’t need a day to myself.
That isn’t to say I don’t believe in Mother’s Day.
My own mother raised three productive but very different children while traveling halfway around the world — to New York, California, Turkey and back — always finding new ways to keep us healthy, happy and entertained.
Single parents have to take on the role of both mother and father. Many times over the past year, as my husband and I relieved each other during a bad night or argued about who had changed the last diaper, we have wondered about single parents and expressed admiration for their abilities.
As we continue to fight two wars overseas, many mothers — and some fathers — are going it alone while also worrying about a spouse in uniform.
And how about the aunts, grandmothers and friends who have taken on a mother’s role with children?
Reading Lydia Grimes’ story about Brewton natives Kate and Gray Garrett and their four babies makes me realize just how easy I’ve had it over the past year. Seeing those sweet babies — and their parents’ smiling faces — you realize that despite the challenges of raising four infants at once, the Garretts are succeeding.
Happy Mother’s Day to everyone today.
Kerry Whipple Bean is publisher of The Brewton Standard. She can be reached at 867-4876 or by e-mail at kerry.bean@brewtonstandard.com.