A Mother's Love
"... Whether you win the trophy or not, and whether or not you win or lose in the playoffs - if there is one thought I want to leave you with, it's this: Your accomplishments will NEVER impact how proud of you I am. Because you are already everything I could have hoped for as a mother ... and that has nothing to do with the miles you throw or the touchdowns you score. It has everything to do with the man you've grown into. As an oldest brother who shows the way. As a hard worker who has an unstoppable spirit. As a Cuban American athlete who represents his community. As a leader who lifts up, and lends kindness, even when no one is looking. As a person of faith, who leans on God and trusts him, even when it's an uneasy road. You have a future that's so bright and a heart that's so full. My gentle giant. My darling son. My buddy. My teammate. I believe in you with every part of me.
I'm proud of you, not just today, but every day.
With all my love,
Mami."
Excerpted from a letter written to the eventual Heisman Trophy winner, Fernando Mendoza, by his mother (Mami), Elsa Mendoza
Good Friday morning beloved family, friends, and neighbors,
I wish you all, each and every one of you, love, peace, hope and happiness, from one end of this day to the other and forever more🤗
As I look out of my metaphorical window at a country and world in mad-chaos, I am sometimes tempted to consider the resultant MESS beyond repair and then via a realization that not everything is broken, I am slapped back to my senses and forced to recognize that there is still more right than wrong with our very confused "world circumstance."
There is yet a heart and soul commitment by so many to reach higher and do better. And, so, I continue to "wish, hope, and pray" that "good" will continue to wage a "winning war" against "evil" and that a healthy balance will be "given its head" that hope might grow, and in some desperate cases even be revived.
I decided to use as my gateway "quote" to today's blog a very heartfelt and beautiful vignette of a mother's "love letter" to her beloved son.
It all BEGINS WITH LOVE and this letter breaks down the idea of unconditional love so that even this mother's son can understand it without 'impediment to clarity."😊
"In the beginning" there was love, a love that breathed hope and happiness into the hearts of all willing to accept the reality that NOTHING good can be accomplished without a loving consideration of ourselves as well as others; especially, "as well as others."
A mother's love as well as a father's is ESSENTIAL if the rose that is their progeny has any chance of being "nurtured into full bloom"; any chance at all.
Reading this letter did two things for me:
First it reminded me of my mother, "lost to the ether" when I was far short of being a completed entity, at the age of seven, and then it made me feel safe and secure to know that love still holds its rightful place in, about, around, and under, heaven. I mean that from the floor to the ceiling of the essence that makes up one Howard Louis Mason.😊
Full disclosure: someone close to me sent me a text during the National Championship Game between Indiana and Miami commenting on the beauty of Fernando Mendoza's mom, who was shown during the game. Being the curious type, being me🤣, I had to see for myself. So I looked her up and yes Virginia, she was quite beautiful, but that was the least of her gifts as what I saw in a blazing, brilliant, bolt of light, by way of her words written to her son, is that she was/is a bottomless vessel of love and clear indication that love remains alive and well, and is in fact thriving.
Truth be told, I see "Mami's" love demonstrated daily by the wonderful people I associate with in my community, my Village, and my surrounding world. And to you, as well as Mrs. Mendoza, I issued forth my sincere "thank you" for your contribution to my effort to keep hope alive and well in all of the "comings and goings" of my life.
One heartbeat, one step at a time will get us back to a place where the living is good for all of us. At least that's my unending hope. How 'bout you? Still think that we can?
Wishing you every happiness and a myriad of reasons to smile, I am your friend, Joyce's boy, aka "Fast Binky"🤣
🤗❤️🌟🎉