In the Arms of an Angel

            I’m not sure if it’s a “mom” thing or a “woman” thing, but isn’t it funny how your emotions have completely changed from the time you were 18, or even 21, to now? I promise that I would never call any of us old, because I am a firm believer that you’re only as old as you feel, but for the sake of this argument we’ll just call us “experienced in life.” Back to my point…as a teenager one of your friends falls down, you giggle, now…you wince and rush to their aid. As a child you clap your hands and cheer for the firefighter that comes to your school for a presentation, now you fight back the tears because you watch a firefighter on television rescuing an elderly man, or a baby, or even a dog from a burning building. As a child you may cry at Christmas because you didn’t get everything you wanted, and now as a parent you cry yourself to sleep because you can’t afford to buy your child everything he wanted for Christmas, or maybe not necessarily everything he wanted, but you couldn’t buy him everything you wanted him to have. On a much lighter note, as a child it is the end of the world if your best friend moves to the next city, and as an adult you’re so happy for your friends when they move away for a new job or new opportunity.

            I think this happens, especially to women, about the time we stop getting free drinks in bars. Reality hits right around that time, men move on to buying drinks for the “less experienced” and we begin to see life for what it really is, HARD! I cannot speak for everyone, but I am imagining that we all feel similar, at least sometimes. As I was arriving home from vacation last week, I a saw young, and by young I mean he couldn’t have been more than 22, Navy seaman who appeared to be returning from duty overseas, or at least this is what my imagination has led me to believe. He was standing by a man that appeared to be a very proud father. I made eye contact with the young man and just smiled, I wanted to go hug him to thank him for serving our country, but it took everything I had in me to not cry. All I could picture that moment was my own son being shipped off to Afghanistan, or any other war-ridden country for that matter. As proud as I would be, and as I am of all of the men and women who do go off to war, I think my nerves and emotions would get the best of me as a mother. I’d be a wreck! Everything that happens, I now instantaneously put myself or my family into that situation, and here come the tears! The horribly sad commercial that features Sarah McLachlan and displays all of the abused and neglected animals gets me every time. Yes, I consider my dogs and cats part of the family, and I can’t imagine anyone ever being so cruel. Commercials that show starving children make me want to empty my life savings. It is sad enough to think about children being so hungry, but it also saddens me to imagine how the mothers of those children feel when they cannot provide a piece of bread for their babies.

            Now that I have everyone singing the song “In the Arms of an Angel,” I’ll depart by saying that it sure was a lot easier being a kid. You weren’t afraid of anything, you were invincible, and you didn’t really care that your parents worried about you every single day. Now I’m the parent, and...it sure was a lot easier being a kid!