Mom,

It takes a woman like you to be a mother, to abandon herself for the needs of her children, in return for sleepless nights and thankless days.

It takes a woman like you to juggle miniscule resources and make it stretch both length and width to make ends meet.

It takes a woman like you to swallow my disdain and disrespect, as I grew too big for my britches, holding vigil, wee hours into many mornings, praying for my safe return.

It takes a woman like you to dutifully release I into the world when I ungratefully abandoned your home, yet to remain willing to provide I refuge when the pressures of the world became too much.

It takes a woman like you to reveal the tenets of virtue, otherwise missing in the world today, to engender my respect, gratitude and love simply by being whom you are and to serve as the inspiration for my growth and the measure of my achievements.   

To all women like you, I hail, for they are worthy to be praised. 

I am particularly grateful to you, Eslanda Rose Bradshaw-Murhpy.  To you I owe an insurmountable debt.

To my second mom, Ma Dadisi Moats, so strong, yet tender, I am also in your debt.

To my sister, Marjorie Yahzid, you are doing it under even harder circumstances than our own mother, yet you are doing it with the same resolve.  I could not be more proud.

To the mother of my children, Donet Orlene Yahzid, your goodness to our children will never be marred by our differences, though my gratitude may often be understated.

To the mother of my yet unborn children, Ekua Acquah-Yahzid, I take this opportunity to applaud your initiation into motherhood, marking the beginning of our second trimester.  In you I have found one worthy and willing to nurture my future seeds in the way of women like my mother.

 A Blessed Mother’s Day.