“All-Terrain” Mothers

Today I dedicate my column to Venezuela’s “all-terrain” mothers (and grandmothers).

Not even those of us who have had children will ever be able to understand the wonder of motherhood, or the vast variety of wonderful mothers and grandmothers there are in the whole world. Those who spend their lives doing, “silently and tirelessly,” the most important work in any society.

So I apologize in advance if I miss some quality I was unable to capture in these lines.

I remember, when I was expecting my first child, a friend who told me: “Sleep while you can, because you’ll never sleep the same again after you give birth to your first child.” Because once the baby is born, the sleepless nights and the “infinite” housework begin.

First comes the wonder of breastfeeding (every woman who has nursed knows that “your whole life goes” into nursing that delicious baby). Then come the pediatricians, the schools, the supplies, the uniforms, the friends, the homework, the baths, swimming lessons, bicycles, meals (on which “our whole life goes” in the kitchen, between cooking, serving, clearing, washing and putting away, only to start all over again).

Only a husband who has stayed alone with the children for a few days (because his wife miraculously managed to get away for a rest) realizes how hard it is to run a household. Within a few hours he “throws in the towel” and leaves the accumulated work for his lovely wife, who comes home radiant, knowing she will find a tower of laundry and another of dirty dishes (and coming home with “four ears,” to be able to hear everything her husband and children have saved up to tell her).

And that’s the end of her rest!

Mothers do not one but ten things at once. That is without counting work outside the home (and the hours in traffic). That is why they end the day “squeezed dry like a lemon.”

As for our Venezuelan “all-terrain” mothers, they not only do everything described above; some also see their families divided among different countries; others go through the ordeal of a husband or son imprisoned in a jail that does not respect the most basic human rights; they live every day with the anguish of robberies, kidnappings… or death at the hands of criminals; they are experts at combing the city to find the basic ingredients for a cake or the milk for breakfast, not to mention what it takes to get an ID card or a passport for their children.

Thank God, most of these “all-terrain” mothers have faith and pray that He will protect their families and help them solve their problems with peace and serenity. And every time they manage to get together with their children and grandchildren (here Mother’s Day is celebrated almost every weekend), they feel like the happiest women in the world.

These mothers have something essential: a “four-wheel-drive” fortitude. And that fortitude comes from their Faith, which gives them the patience and hope to keep going.

That is why they do not lose their Joy, because they know they are the mainstay of their families. And when no one is looking, they slip into a little corner to shed a few tears and ask God to give them the strength to keep going.

They dry those tears right away and go out to cook something delicious, which the “pampered ones of the house” devour happily in no time. And if they end up alone in the kitchen clearing up, they talk to the image of the Blessed Virgin (the one that belonged to their mother or grandmother) and say to her: “You, who were a mother and know what this is like, ask your Son to help us set out soon on a path of Justice and Peace, a path where the Family is what matters most.”

A thousand thanks to all the “all-terrain” mothers and grandmothers who are here, being hard-forged by prayer, work and hope. You are vital to building a better country for our children and grandchildren.

Let us take advantage of this Month of May, the month of the Virgin, to pray hard for Peace and for the unity of our families.