Mothers

I know, I know - these ladies do not look like my mother! But they are mothers of the most amazing variety. They were housemothers at my boarding school in Pakistan. Eunice (on the left) was the housemother for (mostly) the little boys for 40 years. Did you hear that, ladies & gentlemen? Deb was my own housemother for the high school girls whom she cared for over 30 years! Can you imagine? Most sane people would not chose to mother little boys (God bless them) or high school girls (whose dramas of love sickness and escaping and night to raid the boys would make normal people run for cover) for any longer than they have to! But these ladies chose to do that. And they did it with love, energy, patience and of course, help from God (who, I'm sure, will give them a special room in heaven with beds that have NOT been shortsheeted)! It was only years later that I realized how little time off these ladies got and how many hours of intense time with children they had. They are true heroes. Now they go around visiting their 'kids' and encouraging them. How wonderful it was to spend a few precious days together!

Visiting Ron's crew. Ron did not have Deb or Eunice as housemothers, but of course, we were all part of the same tight-knit community.

And here we are after a lovely hike on Mother's Day. The girls decided to give me a gift (almost) every day of May until Mother's Day. Boy, it was hard to be a deserving mother that long! I received drawings, flowers and home-made picture frames. But the most promiment gift was clay. The girls and another little girl who spends a lot of time here made me 5 clay creations - painted and all - I need a museum simply to display what I've received this month! Now I really have to behave for at least a few weeks! How blessed I am :)

And the girls mother too - they found a kitten whose neck had been badly damaged by her immature mother who was trying to carry her (this mother does not deserve a museum-full of clay creations). The girls tenderly cared for this kitten for several hours, praying for its healing - and - when it was obvious it was dead - for its resurrection. Here is the room they made for "Stormy" who is in the back left corner wrapped up in love, lying on a heart-shaped "I love you" pillow and cared for with utmost kindness in her dying hours.

My dear mother who started all this off - in her college days. When I was in college, someone who had been looking at old yearbooks asked me, "You look just like someone in the yearbook in the 50s - are you related to a Viola Wiebe, by any chance?" I replied that although that was my grandma's name, I knew no one from the 50s with that name related to me. Then I realized - "That's my mother!" I have always known her as Ruth (her middle name) Friesen!

Raising 5 children literally all over the world Mom always provided a loving home in the midst of it all - wow. She made the effort to make each of the MANY houses we lived in feel like home as soon as possible. I think of this here because people move so frequently and often do not bother to do this. That's just one little tidbit!

What a wonderful and amazing lady! I can only hope to be like her!