Patient Mothers

Thanks to fake IDs, for a long time it was the same thing...
a full time student helping out at my parent’s grocery store and working doubles as a waitress. On Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and random Sunday nights- it was either a date, bar, club, or house party, sometimes even all four. Hot dogs on the curb, Pho, or Denny’s at 2 in the morning to wrap up a girls night. Before I laid my head down, I squeezed in some reading or writing, often both, and maybe even a movie to fall asleep to. Those rare one or two days off was for personal hobbies, like all my arts and crafts projects, running at the park, or learning how to salsa dance or pick locks. I even made time to attend all my friend’s family events also, like BBQs, football games, and dance performances. After all that, I still had enough energy to keep company in traffic or come to the rescue in the middle of the morning. Never once did I complain about being exhausted, and never once was it too much. Although rearranged, not much has changed.

Then today, I was observing my best friend and my God son interact. As he was persistently falling and picking himself back up, again and again, attempting to crawl... I looked at her and said, “You are soo patient.”

I learned that it’s important to slow down... or we’ll grow old / too fast.