by Kiana
Everyone in the household knows her as the Band-Aid that keeps the family together.
Lost a shirt? “Momma!! Have you seen my black Brandy Melville shirt?”
Can’t find the salt “Momma!! Where’s the salt?”
Need to be picked up from school? “Momma can ya’ pick me up today?”
Momma knows the answer to everything. Momma is always there when you need her. To look at Momma, one sees nothing but security, beauty and comfort. But no one sees the pain inside, behind her green eyes, what goes on when she isn’t finding your black Brandy Melville shirt, or fetching the salt, or picking you up from school. Momma is dependable, Momma is strong, Momma is kind but Momma isn’t invincible.
Normal people go to work from 9 to 5 and still complain. Not Momma, Momma is different. Momma wakes up at 6:30 to take you to school, Momma makes sure you have your lunch packed with those candy Gushers you like so much, Momma remembers to pick up the milk for your breakfast cereal, and when things go wrong, who do you go to? That’s right, Momma because she knows you. Momma won’t care if you punched Joey in the face for picking on your brother, Momma won’t judge you because you have an 89.5% B+ instead of that A- you wanted so badly, and Momma won’t tell you it could be worse; Momma will remind you that it will get better. Her job never ends, she isn’t allowed to quit, and she doesn’t get vacation time.
What creeps in the gentle, good night when we’re sleeping in the comfort of our full-sized bed, covered softly with that blue and purple polka dot comforter that Momma bought? What happens when we finally shut our eyes to take a break from our day? The tears she lets out get drowned out by the music blasting in your earphones. You listen to Childish Gambino and Trey Songz while she cries because the only thing she’s holding onto is the love she has for her children. You worry about finding out which shade of blue to wear for the next day while she’s sitting alone on the couch clinging to her only friend, a glass of wine, or two; in fact, let’s grab the whole bottle. She worries about the IRS payments, your tuition, the mortgage, the car payment, oh, and God forbid the electricity gets turned off. Her sadness comes on with the rise of the moon, but once the moon kisses the sun goodbye, the superhero is back. You’d never guess.
Momma, the superhero. She carries herself beautifully, effortlessly, and she never asks for gratitude that could never be measured anyway. And one day, when you realize that sometimes the rain falls on even the shiniest souls, you won’t ask her to drive the extra 45 minutes to pick you up from school, you won’t go out with your friends and leave her worrying about where you are and who you’re with, and you’ll remember that life will get better, and you’ll make sure she knows that. You will make her breakfast in the morning and make your bed before you leave for school. You will thank her and remind her how much you love her. You will make sure she feels the love you have for her so that when it’s all she’s clinging to, it will be enough.
