My Mom Is My Super Hero

I put on my sleep playlist this evening, and put on Between The Tree's She Is..., and as I was trying to listen to the words, I could've sworn the chorus said, "My mom is my super hero." So as I tried to stay up listening to the lyrics, I just had to grab my computer and look up the lyrics for myself. And sure enough, I was right. And although I do plan on posting the rest of the words, I would first like to say how great my mom has been to me. I have mentioned her in prior blogs, I decided what better way to honor is than by giving her a blog of her own.

My mother was born in the small town of Bunker Hill, Illinois. When she was 6 months old, an enormous tornado hit this town, killing numerous people, including all of her siblings as well as her parents. She was the lone survivor. When word got to her aunt and uncle in Eldorado, Illinois, they came to rescue her and raise her back in Eldorado.

I am the 4th of 4 children by my mother. She had her first two sons, Kelly & Aaron, from a previous marriage. In 1987, she had my brother Michael and in 1989 I was born. Soon after I was born, she discovered that Michael had a peculiar disorder that was fairly rare at the time, Autism. At the time, no one knew hardly anything about Autism, and my mother was in this large majority. She, however, did not plan on staying in that majority. For the next several years of her life, she did all she could to learn more about this disease, and how she could give Michael the most normal life he could possibly have.

There were plenty of struggles when it came to Michael's Autism. He did not speak until the age of 6. Because of this, he was unable to tell us what he wanted, which oftentimes led to large temper tantrums and outbursts. Eating in public was a rare occasion for us, because of the frequency of the said outbursts. Recently, my mother and I were at a restaurant and we saw a kid running around with no discipline, and the parents were doing nothing to corral him. I said to her, "Mom, I don't ever being like that; just running around in restaurants like that." She quickly retorted, "You never did that. There was never time for you to misbehave with all of Michael's temper tantrums."

Though we look back on it now and laugh, it was far from a laughing matter at the time. There were times throughout elementary school that I was taken out of class as a 2nd or 3rd grader to come to Michael's classroom to come calm him down. I was the "older brother", and there was nothing I could do about it. I remember on numerous occasions having adults say to me at a young age, "Why do you do that? How can you do that?" I told them, "I have to. He's my brother, and I love him." At a young age I realized that I had to grow up, and fast. I remember specifically one adult telling my mother, "He'll never turn out normal because he's had to be around Michael all his life." Now I know for a fact I would not be the man I am now without a brother like Michael.

My mother is one of the most incredibly caring and loving persons that I have ever met. As a freshman in high school, the two of us had an opportunity to go on a mission trip to Honduras. Going in, I knew a minimal amount of Spanish; enough of it to small talk with the young children. My mother, on the other hand, had trouble saying, "Hola." But I'll tell you, that sure didn't stop her from loving those children. She'd hold them in her lap, give them a big hug, and spoke to them in a language they mutually understood: love. Time and time again I have seen it through my mother. Through her Sunday School teaching, and the kids hanging on every word she says. Through the mission trips, and doing anything and everything that was asked of her. Through her job as a school nurse at a Behavior Disorder school, where you would think it is an impossible place to love kids.

When I became interested in music, she soon became my number one fan. She bought me my first guitar, and has come to nearly every show I have played. She supported my decision to major in music, and my decision to go to an extremely expensive private school for my education.

In Proverbs, it says "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." My mother has been the ultimate example of love, and I couldn't ask for more. I love you, mommy.

-matthew

6:30 am

She opens up my bedroom door
She's waking me up soon
"I'm turning on the light" she warns
It's the little things that you do
She's the one that starts my day
My dear mom, my comforter, my friend forever
When life's right or wrong
She is also my laughter
Yet my sholuder to cry on

My mom is my super hero
My mom is my world

All out of gas no place to go
She knows just what I'll say
She turns and laughs and opens up her purse
And gives enough for the week
She didn't have to give but she did
It's just the kind of woman she is
Love, she is love
My dear mom

Love is an action that she shows me often.
Even when it's not in her kisses
Blessed with a mom who puts herself after her children.
It dosen't get much better than priceless

She Is...
Between The Trees
Album - The Story And The Song