Mothers Are Role Models Teachers Healers and Much More

Mothers -- The Real Heroes

I'm standing before you today to help create vivid pictures in your minds about the vital role that mothers play in our lives, and why they are the true heroes.

[Point #1] American author Mark Twain said this about his mother: " ... she had a slender, small body, but a large heart -- a heart so large that everybody's joys found welcome in it ... " Indeed, no matter the size of her body, a mothers' heart is strong enough to supply the nutritional needs for her baby in the womb for nine months. A mother's heart is passionate enough to create a warm glow in the family's three children after a scare.

[Point #2] Ireland's JAMES JOYCE said this about mothers in his down-to-earth tone: "Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world, a mother's love is not." If researchers could quantify through math the power of a mother's love compared with the average male's love -- sorry guys, numbers do not go high enough to measure a mother's love.

[Point #3] American founding father George Washington said his mother " ... was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. I attribute all my success in my life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I received from her." Mothers are role models for their children; they are sounding boards, supporters, friends and teachers for their children.

The Body of the Speech

Friends, mothers are the heroes of our society and our world. Yes there are sports stars we call heroes, but they aren't heroes at all. Many are overpaid prima-donnas living in gated communities, indifferent to the real world the rest of us know so well.

And yes there are courageous individuals in the military, and there are police and fire fighters that perform heroic deeds to protect lives and property -- but their main job isn't to give birth to new life, and their heroism does not take place every hour of every single day.

Mothers, on the other hand, are heroes every minute, every hour, every day, every month and every year. They keep the family strong, they cook the meals, and mothers are on the job from daybreak to sunset and beyond. Each of us is here because a mother carried us around for nine months, and nurtured us with her tender love and her nutritious milk.

Mothers are heroes because they willingly, lovingly sacrifice their own time and their own goals to make sure their children have everything they need. Mothers provide meals for their family, warm clothes for the winter, a hug to fend off those irrational fears, a hand-knitted sweater at Christmas, and a smile that shows even in the dark.

Mothers' hearts [Point #1]: Abebech ("ABE-Beck") Gobina ("GO-BEE-NA") is called the "Mother Teresa" of Africa because during the worst famine in Ethiopia's history she had a big enough heart to rescue -- at her own possible peril -- 21 starving children. Her own family rejected her because she brought near-dead children into the house and revived them. There is proof everywhere you look that mothers have big hearts. The Family Caregiver Alliance reports that 66% of caregivers are female, and the average caregiver is a 49-year-old married woman taking care of her 60-year-old mother; female caregivers (mostly mothers) spend up to 50% more time providing care than male caregivers.

Mothers' love [Point #2]: A mother's love is the unsinkable life raft plowing through dangerous waves on its way to safety on the shore. A mother's love is the rock wall jutting out into the ocean and protecting the land and people by absorbing those huge waves before then can cause damage in the harbor.