As I begin to write this, I can feel my heart beating rapidly, and I can feel my tear ducts filling as I ponder the immense love my mother has shown me my entire life. Much of the man I am today is because of this woman. I truly wish I possessed the lexicon to adequately express the magnitude of my admiration of her and my deep affinity for her. Before I share the lessons I learned from my mother, let me spend a little time just honoring my mama.
I am reminded of the scene from “Forrest Gump” when his mother is about to pass away. In some of her final words, she affectionately states, “I didn’t know it, but I was destined to be your mama.” I know my mother feels the same way about me. I am also reminded of Anthony Hamilton’s song, “Mama Knew Love.” Oftentimes, I play this song on repeat as I travel from Oxford to Horn Lake. I keep the shades on to hide the flowing tears. Here are the lyrics that “get me” every time: “I know you love me, I can tell by the way that you kiss me, tight when you hug me. Took me to school the very first day, gave me a piece of butterscotch, sent me on my way.”
Another lyric from the song that gets me is … “Mom, I’m going to struggle with you. I’m going to help you see the bigger picture. You gave me something no one can take away, you make it so easy to say, ‘I love you, mama.’” This resonates with me so well, because of the struggle I lived through with my mama. She had me while she was still a babe herself, but she made it do what it do. And because of that, “Mom, I swear you never have to worry again.” (Just to finish out the Anthony Hamilton song.)
Switching gears a bit, I have to reference Tupac’s “Dear Mama.” I’m sure this is a song we can all readily identify with. The song is filled with countless lyrics that demonstrate Tupac’s outstanding love for his mother. For the sake of brevity, I will only cite two of the lyrics. The first is: “… and when I was low, you was there for me. You never left me alone, because you cared for me.” This lyric truly struck a chord with me after an incident back in August. I was at my lowest and mama was there. Through and through. I will end by simply letting the world know: “AIN’T A WOMAN ALIVE THAT COULD TAKE MY MAMA’S PLACE!”
On to the lessons from my mother. Every day my mother would take me to school and drop me off. Before getting out of the car she would always say, “I love you. Be good. And have fun.” She never missed a day. She continued this tradition when my brother began going to school. I honestly believe if we followed my mom’s advice the world would be a better place.
1. Just love people. The Bible teaches us that the greatest commandment is to love. So do it. Love your enemies too.
2. Be good. Plain and simple.
3. Have fun. Life is far too short not to have any fun!
In addition to her tri-fold morning message, my mother would tell me to always “keep my nose clean.” *reaches for Kleenex*
Basically, always try my best to do what is right in the eyes of God. Obviously, I am a human and will sometimes fail to please God in all of my actions. But I am eternally grateful for the sense of Christian responsibility my mother instilled in me. So … keep those noses clean!
Finally, my mom always told me to watch my actions because you never know who is watching you. This message became even more concrete for me on March 31, 1999, when my brother was born. Since the day of his birth, I have always striven for excellence in everything that I have done because if no one else was watching me, I knew my brother was.
The lessons my mother has taught me are endless. But I figured I might as well share some of the lessons from my mother with the world. I love you, mama!
Tim Abram is a senior public policy leadership major from Horn Lake.
