I want my Mom!

What is it about Moms and their magic powers to make you feel better? My Grandson fell in his house a few days ago and through his tears and crying he just kept saying, "I want Mommy". His dad was doing everything his mom would have done, but it was just not the same. He wanted his Mom. The same thing happened not long ago when I was at my daughter's house to pick up my granddaughter. My grandson bumped his head while I was standing near him. I went to comfort him, and all he could say was, "I want Mommy".

This was one time when Mommy couldn't make it better, but tolerable.

I remember my kids doing the same thing when they were little. But the craving for your Mom in times of need, stress, sadness, or illness does not go away when you hit a certain age. I remember my daughter being pregnant, living over 1000 miles away, and getting a nasty virus that was just not going away. She called me while I was at the Air and Space Museum in Virginia. She was upset, and said those words that melted my heart, "I just want my Mom"! So, now I am standing in a crowded museum, on a catwalk, looking down over the space shuttle, with tears in my eyes wishing I was there with her to help make it all better. When she had the baby early, and he was sick, and no one was sleeping, I showed up at her house a week later, and when I walked into the door she fell into my arms. This new Mom needed her Mom.

I could share stories about my grown sons and their "I need my Mom" moments, but I think in this case they need their Mom to keep her stories about them to herself.

The magic of a Mom's hug may be unexplainable, but completely undeniable. When you are a child you crave it, seek it and at times need it, and that does not change when you are an adult. I am sure that this may be different for males than females, not in the want and need of their Mom, but more in the admitting to it. There is a scene in the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" where George Bailey says everyone would be better off it he hadn't been born. Then "Clarence the Angel" shows him what life would have been like without him.  As he is going around Bedford Falls and no one recognizes him, he goes to see his mother. He says,"Oh Mother, Mother please help me. I don't know what it is. Somethings happened to everybody. Please let me come in. Keep me here until I get over it."  The desperation in his voice and the need for her to take him in and make it all better is heart wrenching. He might as well have said, "I want my Mom."

Jimmy Stewart and Beulah Bondi in "It's a Wonderful Life" as George and Ma Bailey. This is the scene where she does not know who he is.  One of my favorite movies of all time.

I had a "I want my Mom" moment yesterday! I was sick and feeling lost and out of sorts, and just wanted my Mom. My memories of my Mom making it all better by hugging me, rubbing my back, stroking my hair and kissing my forehead are all I have left, now that she is gone. There is no substitute for a Mom's embrace, her warmth and tenderness, how you feel safe and calm, how she makes whatever is wrong feel better, and how you feel so loved.