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“Hi, Mom!” sounds to be a mundane expression. However, a son’s everlasting usage of the phrase indicates endearment and admiration for his mother. This commonly used phrase carries with it significant meaning, exemplified by the figurative crown a son places upon his mom’s head.
We’ve all become accustomed to watching athletes use their fifteen minutes of personal TV fame to use this all to familiar phrase, “HI MOM.”
Why is this simple phrase so important to us? Why do we feel it resonates and hearing it elicits an “Aww…” moment?
Most sons—whether they are in the limelight or not—have a desire to protect and to please their mothers. They show appreciation to their mothers in assorted ways, by various platforms not limited to athletic venues. We have observed thespians throw kisses to their mothers from the stage, members of the print and vocal media give their mothers a “shout-out” at the end of their columns and or radio broadcasts . . . the ways in which we recognize our mothers are infinite.
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Many sons have watched their mothers deny themselves (race and/or origin notwithstanding) the world’s basic necessities in order to ensure that their sons are afforded the opportunities to be accepted, recognized, and to be unapologetically seated at the tables of the world.
As the maturation process continues, they see royalty for the first time as they become the men that their Queens wished them to become. Their eyes and hearts are opened as they come to the realization that they have been in the presence of a Queen throughout their existence. They now are mature enough to recognize her abilities to be regal, noble, loyal to her subjects, having her subjects best interests at heart, expressing care and concern for both their physical and mental welfare, and to recognize that her ‘subjects’ are not flawless. Sons embrace their Queen as they recognize that she possesses the ability to love unconditionally.
His love for his mother develops his ability to see the warmth in her eyes, to feel the empathy in her smile, to hear the concern for his safety in her voice, to recognize her disappointments, to recognize sadness and/or joy within her tears, to know when her smiles are genuine, and to know when she is truly happy and pleased.
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As this transition into manhood continues to manifest itself, his more mature perspective allows him to see a little more deeply into this Queens’ heart. He adjusts his lenses and discovers his self-proposed crystal clear focus somehow missed seeing a damaged, fragile spirit, a spirit who lacked the love she needed as a child. He discerns her lack of self-esteem, a feeling of failure and an unfulfilled life, a feeling of being inherently unappreciated, a feeling of abandonment by those she loves and loved, a feeling of despair and sometimes a feeling of resentment for those who thwarted her access to what she feels would have been a better, more enjoyable life.
Through it all, the Queen continues to persevere and to deny her own happiness as she works tirelessly to ensure the happiness of others to the best of her abilities.
She prays continuously as she waits for an answer, an answer that seems to never come. While waiting for this answer, her body begins to whither, her vision dims, her auditory skills diminish, her mind begins to wane, giving way for dementia and Alzheimer’s to appear, her hair turns gray as she sits in her well-worn recliner holding on to hope, wrestling with conflicting thoughts of basking in the successes of her son while withering in what she perceives as her own failure.
The son does everything he knows to lift her spirits and to let her know that she is a roaring success, he reminds her of all of the accolades he received and continues to receive; the ‘at-a-boys,’ the pats on the back from unsuspecting strangers, the trophies, the certificates, the plaques, the quality education and all of the fruits of life that he has been and is able to enjoy and unselfishly shares with her, he constantly reminds his Queen that it was her sacrifices that made all of the successes possible for him, for her and for many members of the family of which she is the matriarch.
“HI MOM!”
© 2018 Melvin “Casey” Lars
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