I saw something today that really affected me. I immediately cried when it happened of course because when I gave birth to Oscar I received these new ULTRA sensitive set of emotions. I don't know what to do with them, sometimes they seem unbearable. I can't watch any story on the news that involves a child being neglected, abused, or about the wrongful death of a child without becoming very upset. It will eat at me until I fall asleep if it allows me to fall asleep. I can't hear about the horrible things being done to children in the world without being consumed by sadness. I'd call it a curse except it's opened my eyes to the need for each of us to do good in the world and to make a difference.
So what I saw today was a mother that had no food to feed her 3 yr old daughter. She was at a government agency trying to deal with someone probably to be able to get food stamps. I have no idea what happened but she slowly starts raising her voice until all of a sudden she's shouting. She starts screaming in defiance saying she will not leave until they rectify the situation they had messed up. She was screaming about how they had messed up and how she had been in there every day for two weeks trying to see someone but that no one would see her. The employees told her to calm down and that's when she really lost it. She screamed "No I will not calm down! I have no food and I have a 3 year old daughter asking me for food! What do you want me to tell my daughter that's hungry! What am I supposed to tell her!?"
The sound of her voice ripped my heart apart. I could hear the desperation, fear, and determination of a mother trying to feed her child. The sound of her voice was something I'll never forget. I thought about what I would do if I didn't have food to feed Oscar, what I would or wouldn't do to take care of his most basic needs. It was overwhelming to even imagine the scenario.
I honestly don't know how these emotions just came as a package deal with the birth of my child. It's truly amazing. I can't think of anything more powerful than the love of a mother. So here's a video that I enjoyed. Here's to you mommas
It's 8 minutes long, just to warn you.
4 comments:
I totally had the same issues after I had Klein. I would stay awake at night thinking about all the horrible things going on in the world against babies and children. Thanks for sharing, we all should be a little more aware of what's going on so we can do something about it.
I refuse to watch the videos because anything bad makes me very unhappy. I was sensitive to begin, but I'll never forget a morning radio show that told men that as soon as they have a baby they should just go out and buy themselves a bra-because they turn into women. It's true and I can't let me my mom tell me any stories about the kids in the shelter. I probably would have been judegmental to the screaming lady, wondering if she was lying, what she'd done to get herself in that situation, but show me the three year old and I'd start to cry and give her all the food she wants. No more sad stories at Christmas...
ryan i meant for this to have an inspirational tone rather than a sad one. i meant to stress how powerful and inspiring parenthood can be. i'm sure your mom doesn't love seeing sad things all the time, but she probably loves to be aware of what's going on to be able to help those people in the best way she can. i didn't think the videos were sad, i thought they were inspiring.
oh thanks. now i'm crying too
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