Mom's the word

The first time my siblings and I tried to make breakfast in bed for our mother, it was a disaster. We managed to both burn AND undercook the pancakes, create a waterfall of spilled orange juice down the stairs, and we didn't manage to get to her room with the flimsy tray before my mom came downstairs to investigate. Thankfully, she could look past our culinary disasters to our good intentions, and laughed with us.
Through the years, my mom has always been like that: patient, kind, and helping us kids learn from our mistakes. She's a nurse by profession, and her love for helping people, making things better, and exceptionally strong stomach prove her expertise. She's done far more than just handling our physical ailments; my mom's been our personal taxi driver, an interior decorator, a cook… and the list goes on. When I'm away at school, we regularly talk on the phone about just about everything. My mom's a great listener: many times, I'd mention offhand something I've been stressed about, or thinking about, only to be surprised a few days later by an email from my mom on her thoughts on the subject. She's a wise woman, and too often I've taken her for granted.
While my actual mother has been amazing, I have been especially blessed to know many women over the years who have invested in my life, and provided exceptional examples of motherhood. I'd like to share a little bit about a few of them.
Mildred was in her late 60's when she took me under her wing. She was an old family friend we reconnected with when my family first moved to Uxbridge. At that time, I was a painfully shy teen, faced with the foreboding task of approaching strangers for a school fundraiser. Mildred took me around and introduced me to her entire apartment building, and helped me begin to feel at home in a new town. It wasn't just me she invested in, either - she was a mother-figure to dozens of youth-group kids over the decades, which included my father, long ago. She never married or had any children of her own, but she mothered many kids throughout her life, and her death was keenly felt by many people whose lives she influenced.
I've half-jokingly referred to Carol as my 'adopted mom' since my high school days. She has been one of my greatest mentors. Her profession, teaching, is one she is well-suited for: from learning about space to biology, to the one summer I spent learning painting with her in her basement, she's always had something new to teach me. She's a fantastic artist, and a master of time management: two traits I've always sought, but often elude me. She's been there for me during my high school traumas, and has always been a voice of reason and logic. Like my real mom, Carol's told me what I need to hear, whether I want to hear it or not. She continues to play an incredibly important role in my life; whenever I'm home from school, Carol's on my list of must-see people.
Consuelo is another mother-figure in my life. As I'm sure most people can attest to, it's somewhat nerve-wracking to meet the parents of your significant other, but from the first day I met her, she went out of her way to make me feel at home. She's one of the most generous, hard working, and loving people I know. Consuelo's a single mom who moved to Canada to provide better opportunities for her children: she's an extremely intelligent, educated woman who has worked as a psychologist, university professor, and as a journalist, but gave it all up to provide new opportunities for her two kids. She's one of those people who instantly brightens your day, just by talking to her. She has a ton of practical wisdom and insight into just about everything, and she shares it without making me feel dumb for not knowing it in the first place.
I'm not a mother myself, of course - I don't know if I'll ever be one. The prospect of being responsible for another human being for roughly eighteen years is one I wouldn't take on lightly. However, should I ever have my own kids, it will be the examples of these women I will be drawing upon to raise them. These four, and so many others, have mastered the paradoxes of motherhood: being strong yet gentle, selfless yet powerful, and wise but humble. They're imperfect and human, as we all are, but they do the absolute best they can. There is so much more I have yet to learn from the women in my life, but for now, I just want to pay tribute to these women who continue to show me what motherhood should be.