Don’t we all think we’re Superwoman?
We keep at it until the job is done. We work, clean, cook, do laundry, dishes, comb hair, iron clothes, drop this one here and that one there, go to work, take care of our man (emotionally and physically)…need I say more?
My Mom is the greatest superwoman that I know. She had ten kids and was married to an air force officer. Because of that, she traveled all over the world and the U.S. with all those kids to keep the family together while my father was in the service. When he retired, she started her own nursing career, which she had put on hold while he was enlisted. She worked until she was 75 and retired from two different places. Plus she always made sure all of us kids had what we needed. Amazing.
She’s 90 now and recently was rushed to the hospital for difficulty breathing. She has congestive heart failure and caught pneumonia which caused her lungs to fill up with fluid. After two days in the ICU and under sedation, she woke up and pulled the respirator out – told the doctors and nurses that she didn’t need it and to get her out of ICU. Who’s going to argue with my mom? I mean, really. You just don’t do that.
So, she spent another four days in a regular room, recuperating and healing and was sent home with oxygen. Of course, all of her children are present and available for her every need, every whim. We’re probably smothering her. But, my mom being who she is, will tell us to go home whenever she’s ready.
90 years is a long time. During her childhood they were still using horse and buggy carriages. They grew their own food, put oil in the lamps so they would have light in the house, chopped wood and burned it in the wood stove to heat the house. She has come from there to here where lights come on at a flick of a switch; heat is on at the turn of a dial; internet, cell phones, apps, gadgets – food is purchased at a grocery store… She’s seen so much and adapted to every change.
She’s a real superwoman. As tough as I may think I am, I know I don’t have her inner strength. They broke the mold when that little girl came into the world. All I can do is try to follow her example. She’s shown me the way to superwomanhood.
Who in your life is your superwoman example?
Please note: art by MaseOne at http://mase0ne.deviantart.com/