"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise - that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life."
As
we prepare for what I hope is a wonderful Mother's Day for everyone
reading this and a much deserved celebration for the one person who
makes our days a little brighter, our pains a little more bearable and
our dreams a little more attainable I wanted to re-post a piece I wrote in May of 2010 in recognition of Mother's Day.
Thank you Mom for everything you have done for me and my family... I love you very much... your son, Shawn
My Mom... 1963.
(Senior year of High School)
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
-Exodus 20:12
Bryce turns 2!
(Nana with Logan, Austin and baby Bryce in 1997)
Thinking of You...
For
most reading this, today will be a day of celebration as we honor our
mothers and thank them for everything they have done for us. I don't
know about you, but my mother was the glue that held our family together
when I was growing up. Today things haven't changed that much at all,
as my wife (Ryan & Reese's mom) makes our house a home and keeps
everything together for us. I'm not exaggerating when I say; "we couldn't make it without my wife, Ronnie".
Addison, Ronnie, & Ryan
(Mother's day 2008)
For
others reading this today will be a day of reflection and sadness as
they remember their mother or grandmother that lost their lives during
the past year. The one person that comes to mind for me is Heather
Brewster Schaller. Heather, and her sister, lost their mother to cancer
this past week. I'm not going to try to describe Heather other than to
say she is about as wonderful as a human being can be. She is a devoted
wife, a loving mother, a supportive sister, and has always been the type
of daughter that has given her parents constant joy and much reason to
be proud. Spend ten minutes with her and you will know exactly what I'm
talking (typing) about.
Heather
and I have been friends since high school, and though we lost contact
with each other for several years, Heather remains the same person she
was many years ago; wonderful.
Heather and her mother...
"Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise."
– Ephesians 6:2
Brooke Alayne Wright Brewster
July 30, 1942 - May 4, 2010
Heather's mom...
As my family recognizes all the mothers (my wife, my mom, & my mother-in-law) that make our lives better on a daily basis we will also be thinking of someone very near and dear to all of us; my late grandmother, Jane Byrd
Mom, my sister (Meredith), & Grandma Byrd
My grandmother passed away in the summer of 2005. Below are the words I spoke at her funeral.
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms! We couldn't survive without you.
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms! We couldn't survive without you.
Marjorie Jane Harris
1920-2205
1920
started like any other year. It was full of promise and hope; Woodrow
Wilson was our country's 28th President and the summer Olympics were
being held in Antwerp, Belgium. It was also a freighting time as Adolph
Hitler gave his first public speech. It was the year F. Scott Fitzgerald
wrote his first novel "This Side of Paradise", and the inauguration of
our country's first airport in Tucson, Arizona. 1920 also marked the
passing of the 19th amendment which granted women the right to vote.
And, in that same year on December the 29th, one Marjorie Jane Harris was welcomed into the world.
One
of six children and the recipient of loving parents, Jane learned at a
very young age the importance of a family; the value of great parents
and the value of being a great parent. In the book "Anna Karenina" Leo
Tolstoy wrote that "all happy families are alike; each unhappy family is
unhappy in its own way." My grandmother and her siblings experienced
the joy of a happy family. Their parents provided safety, comfort, and
happiness in a time when our country made it difficult for a black
family to experience safety, comfort, and happiness.
I
know this to be true because all six children (Vernon, Catherine, Mill,
Maurice, Jane, & Simmie) passed on that safety, comfort, and
happiness to their families.
The Harris Family
My grandmother is sitting on her mother's lap (1924).
My
grandmother showed me by word and deed that people can, and do, make a
difference; that the real heroes are people like my grandmother and my
late grandfather. They are individuals like my Aunt Nancy, and Uncle
Howard, like my mother (Chris) and my father (Jake)...and like many of
you sitting in this room. People who work every day and try to make a
better life for their family and those around them.
We
live in a society that many times applaud the ordinary and forgets
about the truly extraordinary. People like the Harris' were
extraordinary because they made the most out what they had.
The
day I graduated from Wittenberg University my father shook my hand,
told me congratulations, and commanded me to give my children more than
was given to me. The Harris children gave their children more than was
given to them and in turn my parents gave my sister and me more than
what was given to them.
"Sweet 16" (1936)
Jane Harris... my grandmother.
Birdie
(my grandfather) and Jane truly went the extra mile for their children;
giving them every opportunity to be happy and successful. People really
do make a difference in others lives. The difference can be negative or it can be positive...the choice is ours.
My grandmother chose to make a difference in her two children (Nancy & Chris), her four grandchildren (Tim, Tony, Meredith, & myself), and her four great grand-children's lives (Logan, Austin, Bryce, & Sarah)...that choice has made all the difference to me.
My grandmother chose to make a difference in her two children (Nancy & Chris), her four grandchildren (Tim, Tony, Meredith, & myself), and her four great grand-children's lives (Logan, Austin, Bryce, & Sarah)...that choice has made all the difference to me.
Now
that I've gained insight and knowledge from two different generations,
and have been blessed with wonderful role models, I can only hope and
pray that I will continue the tradition. The tradition of giving my
children more than what was given me and that I will be a positive
influence in their lives.
Christine Neilson Williams
(My great grandmother)
Ralph
Waldon Emerson wrote, and I quote; "What I must do is all that concerns
me, not what the people think...you will always find those who think
they know what your duty is better than you know it. It is easy in the
world to live after the world's opinion; it easy to in solitude to live
after our own; but the great man is he who in midst of the crowd keeps
with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude". Marjorie Jane
Byrd, in the midst of the crowd, maintained the perfect sweetness of
independent solitude. She was true to herself, and by doing so, she was
true to all of us.
In
closing, I know we are all grieving m grandmother's death today, but it
would be my hope and prayer that we celebrate her life. When Jack
Nicklaus officially retired from golf last Friday at the British Open,
someone said; "don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened".
My grandmother's life may be over, but I'm so happy it happened and that
I was part of it.
Thank you.
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