Is This Mike On?

Called my mom tonight, and for once didn’t act impatient.
Didn’t check my watch.
Didn’t sigh.
Didn’t say “um huh” 40 times.

I could tell you stories and make excuses, bolstering my case in my own feeble mind why I should be impatient with mom, maybe forgetting to mention the precarious load she carried as a single parent.

I probably would omit all the times I gave her cause for concern, how she used to get phone calls from teachers about my lack of effort in school. I probably wouldn’t say all the times she left the house at 11:30 p.m. to work through the night, just to barely make ends meet for us.

It still irked me recently when my oldest daughter pulled me aside after we took mom to dinner. You could be a little nicer, my daughter told me. Your mom tried to talk to you all night and you didn’t listen hardly at all. You acted impatient, like you didn’t want to be there.

I tried to be indignant, tried to explain to her how she didn’t know my life growing up. I thought I had a right to short with the lady who, right now, can barely walk from point A to point B without a wheelchair.
Truth is, I didn’t. Nobody does with their parents.

One of my readers sent the below video to me. It takes five minutes to watch and comes with subtitles. As you watch its simple, yet powerful message, think about your relationship with your own parents and how it might change for the better.

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