Moms and Turtles!

Love is patient, love is kind. It keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:9

Last week as I was hurriedly driving up Johnson Ferry Road toward Shallowford, both lanes of traffic on my side of the road stopped. I could see no visible accident, road work, or other hazzards, so I began to blame incompetent drivers. Slowly, one lane at a time began to move while cars were weaving slowly back and forth. As I got closer to the reason for the delay, I could see a turtle slowly and nonchalantly making its way across the lanes of traffic. At that moment, my annoyance subsided, I pondered ways to rescue it, and I thought about my Mama.

Our Mama loved turtles, and she collected all sorts of pictures, figurines, and even artwork. If I could explain why she loved them so much, I guess I wouldn’t have a definitive answer. I do know that from her condo in Panama City she had a vantage point to watch the preparations each year for the Mother Turtles to come ashore to lay her eggs. Mama was concerned about the eggs that were laid there because she knew that after the Mother lays the eggs, she leaves them there to fend for themselves! I think the Mother instinct kicked in, and she began to study the creature’s story and habits.

Turtles are in fact, very interesting. For example, the Mother Turtle can lay over one thousand eggs on shore, but when they hatch the odds are that only one will make it back to the water. The turtle’s shell is made of bones, so their bones are on the outside of their body. Their young years are called “the lost years” because its incredibly hard to track them once they hatch. It is estimated that they spend 20 years or so at sea. The Mother turtles always return home to the same beach on which they hatched to lay their own eggs! They grow to be gynormous and can live to be over 100 years old.

In the eight years since Mama left us, I think I have begun to better understand how she used turtles to learn her skills as a Mother, and to teach all of us how to be better Moms. So, I picked a few of the better lessons for us Moms of today.

First, I think she used the words from Louis V. Gertsner, “Watch the turtle. He only moves forward by sticking his neck out.” There are many occasions in the life of a Mom where she must stick her neck out to encourage, protect, and guide her children. Kids go through many trials and tribulations during their growing up years, and it’s important for them to know, no matter their age, that they are accepted and they have a purpose in this life.

Next, just like the turtles, sometimes life is the “survival of the fittest.” Moms must help their kids learn about their faith, purpose, and God given strengths. Sometimes we all feel alone, even in a crowd, just like a turtle must feel in the middle of the sea, but we can thrive with friends, family, and faith.

Finally, the turtle teaches us that “life is not a track meet, it’s a marathon.” The Aesop fable, The Tortoise and the Hare inspires Moms to teach their children that one can be more successful by doing things slowly and steadily rather than quickly and carelessly. We need to take time to enjoy family, friends, sunsets, sunrises, and the wonders of this life. As Moms we need to take the time to show them the love.

I’m blessed that our Mother was not at all like the turtle Mom that leaves her eggs to fend for themselves. She was more like the Mom that Erma Bombeck liked to describe in her writings. The following is the story of her Favorite Child, and the unequaled love of a Mother.

Every Mother has a favorite child. She can’t help it. She is only human. My favorite chld is the one who was too sick to eat ice cream at his birthday party, the one who had measles at Christmas, the one who wore leg braces in bed because he toed in, the one who had a fever in the middle of the night, the one with the asthma attack, the one in my arms in the emergency room. My favorite chld is the one who messed up the piano recital, misspelled committee in a spelling bee, ran the wrong way with the football. My favorite child was selfish, immature, bad tempered, self centered, vulnerable, lonely, unsure, and quite wonderful. Every mother has a favorite child, and it‘s always the same one: the one who needs you at the moment. The one who needs you for whatever reason – to cling to, to shout at, to hurt, to hug, to flatter, to reverse telephone charges, to unload on – but mostly just to be there.

Luckily, the turtle in my story made it across the road safely thanks to two teenage girls who herded it across. They will make great Moms!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the special Moms in my life!