ONLY MY MOTHER WOULD DO A THING LIKE THAT!
My mom was always my biggest supporter. We didn’t agree about everything, but I always knew that she had my back. But oh, momma had no problem telling me when she was mad at me! She didn’t hold back when she was angry, and she didn’t mind who heard her when she was giving you a piece of her mind.
I got to experience momma’s anger many times, but one of the funniest was when I was in Basic Training in the Army. Momma was the only person in my family who supported me when I decided to join the Army, and I went off to Basic Training with her blessing. Basic is a demanding program, and we often had to go on 20 mile marches carrying a 100 pound rucksack, LBE gear, and an M16 rifle. It was hard, and in the beginning I was exhausted all the time.
One evening early in my training I had just returned after one of these marches and all I wanted to do was rest. However, I got a message that I should report to the orderly room because I had a phone call from home. A phone call from home? That had to be bad news. I had a premonition that one of my family members had passed away, and I began mentally preparing myself as I walked to the orderly room.Was I ever surprised to hear my mother’s angry voice on the phone! She started yelling immediately, accusing me of breaking her stereo, and insisting that when I got my first paycheck I had to send her the money for the stereo. “You’re not going to get away with this!” she yelled, and added, “it’s a shame you’re so damn sneaky that you didn’t tell me!”
It was quite an earful. I just listened and tried to quiet her down, but when momma had said her piece she hung up. Just then I noticed that my drill sergeant was nearby, and from the expression on his face I realized that he had overheard the conversation.
“What’s going on, knucklehead?” he asked, in that way that only drill sergeants can. Embarrassed, I explained what the call was about, but if I thought that would be the end of it, I was wrong.
“Outside, on the double, and pound some dirt!” he ordered. For anyone who hasn’t been to Basic Training, that means to get down on the ground outside and start doing pushups until your sergeant tells you to stop.
I did what the sergeant ordered, but the whole time I was grumbling to myself about momma calling me during Basic Training to yell at me. Only my mother would do a thing like that.
How about you? Was there ever a time when you said, “Only my mother would do a thing like that?” Was there an incident where your mother got you angry, embarrassed, or upset at the time, but you can look back on it now and laugh? We’d love to hear your stories about times when your mother did something unforgettable — feel free to share them with our audience. It’s stories like those that help us so much with the grieving process.
They help us smile through the tears.
