Bring Back Our Girls – “Million-Woman March” – Abuja – Capital of Nigeria
30 April 2014
Photo Credit: Gnomes National News Service
Mother’s Day. Today in the United States and in some countries around the world, we honor our mothers. We owe our mothers our lives and much more. But all is not rosy for mothers.
We women have been blessed or cursed, perhaps a bit of both, with Nature’s endowment of childbearing and child nurturing. Our role as child bearers is a labor of joy and sorrow, love and pain. We rejoice in our children’s achievements, however small; we suffer when they are sick or injured. If we could, we would take their pain. When they are bullied by their peers, we stand ready to defend them. When they are snatched from us, we find no solace.
For the mothers of over 270 girls kidnapped, almost a month ago, from their school in northeast Nigeria, this is a time of great anguish.
“It’s unbearable. Our wives have grown bitter and cry all day. The abduction of our children and the news of them being married off is like hearing of the return of the slave trade,” said Yakubu Ubalala (The Guardian).
Their 17- and 18-year-old daughters, Kulu and Maimuna, are among the girls kidnapped by the Boko Haram Islamic Fundamentalist group. The leader of the group has since threatened to sell them. In times of political unrest, our children, especially our girls, are easy targets for male aggressors.
In the United States, over a hundred children go missing every day, abducted by a stranger or slight acquaintance (Child Find of America). These children are either held for ransom, killed, or kept permanently.
This Mother’s Day I honor all mothers who grieve for a missing child, not knowing whether they are dead or alive.
Blessed are those mothers whose sons and daughters have not yet been touched by the evil impulses of our human nature.
Three Worlds One Vision 
Indeed, Rosaliene, having daughters (I have two who are independent adults) is a very complicated thing. We worry, even on a day that is supposed to be a celebration. I remember hearing an old friend who became a stepmother to her husband’s deceased wife’s children, saying how difficult this day was for her, since some people didn’t quite recognize her as fully deserving of the title “mother.” Thank you again for your writing, which always hits the right notes.
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Dr. Stein, thanks for sharing your own experience with this complicated thing: motherhood. The father of our children, when present, is a mother’s greatest strength and support.
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Reblogged this on Guyanese Online and commented:
Happy Mother’s Day to you Rosaliene.
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Thanks, Cyril. Thanks, too, for sharing my blog post.
May the mothers in your life be blessed.
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Hello Rosaliene – Happy belated mothers day, God bless for the work you do.On this mother’s day I piggy back on Dr. Gerald Steins comment about the stepmother – stepmothers are either loved or hated for a number of reasons. In my situation, I received a dose of what It is like to be liked, resented or accepted after I got married to a man who has seven surviving adult children that I inherited. However my utilitarian value is what I am blessed with, and is well noted by my step children and their off springs. For me no sweat! its neither here nor there. Great article Rose.
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Thanks for reading, Yvonne. A Happy Belated Mother’s Day to you, too! Stepmothers are mothers with a big heart and lots of courage. So glad to learn that you found a way to ride the waves and is appreciated by your stepchildren.
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And to all true mothers, whatever their titles, even if none – for me, Katie, my Confirmation godmother, who saved my heart.
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“True mothers” come in all disguises.
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