LASTWORD
A Mother’s
He rt
By Robert
Middleton
This month, we present
a beautiful short story
about the love of a mother
penned by author and army
veteran Robert Middleton.
She leaned back on the couch and rested her head on the
soft sofa cushion. She took a deep breath and then let it
out. All the cares, frustrations, and worries seemed to
leave her body in that one long breath.
It had been too long since she’d had even a moment like
this to herself. Every day was just full of noise, chaos,
and kids, kids, kids.
This was one of those moments. She closed her eyes and
listened to the sound she cherished most: silence. It was
such a strange phenomenon here at home. It seemed so
foreign to her worn out ears. She took another breath
and let it out. Ah, there it was – calmness returning to
her soul. She’d almost forgotten what that was like.
Before she had married, she had lived a life built solely
around herself. She had put herself through college and
obtained a nice job at a huge corporation. She could do
what she wanted when she wanted. She really didn’t have
to answer to anyone at any time. She was her own person.
But, then, she got married and she ceased being an
individual. She became a “we”. Now, it didn’t matter so
much what she wanted to do but what “we” wanted to do.
She had really just gotten used to being out on her own
and she liked it very much. She would really say that she
loved it. But, now those days were over. In many ways,
she felt trapped and wanted to escape.
A year later brought her first child. The following year
another. And, her sense of self rapidly descended
into oblivion. That sense of “we” grew exponentially.
Suddenly her world seemed so much smaller and the
world of others so much larger. She felt herself slipping
away as the duties, responsibilities, and obligations
of wife and mother consumed her life. And then there
was the noise; the constant screams of babies. Those
babies, she loved them. But, they were a constant chore.
They cried, pooped, whined, laughed, cooed, coughed,
sneezed, threw up, and cried, pooped, and whined all
over again and again and again.
She thought
about her family.
She thought
about her kids
and how they
had taken up so
much of her life.
They were
everything to
her. They had
made her who
she was today.
30
Family & Life • Jul 2014
Then, just when those kids started calming down again,
there was another. And, a year later another. The
process started all over again. Now, everything was
compounded again. It never