Mothers and Sons

Saturday night Dennis and I got the kids to bed early and settled in to watch a movie.  I’d made my first visit to a Redbox that afternoon (what a deal!) and came home with The Guilt Trip.  We like Seth Rogen a lot and figured the contrast between him and Barbara Streisand would be funny.  The plot sounded cute – mother and son embark on a cross-country road trip.

We really enjoyed this movie!  It had a more engaging plotline than we expected and the conversations between mother and son were hilarious and clearly ad-libbed.  Seth Rogen’s delivery and little under-his-breath comments were spot on.  What we didn’t expect was how touching the film would be.  I was in tears at the end and told Dennis, “You really need to call your mom more.”  He replied, “I’ll call her tomorrow.”

The relationship between this overbearing, quintessentially Jewish mother and her long-suffering son was so poignant.  It made me think about the relationship between moms and their boys.  The imbalance, not so much in love, but in the degree to which moms and sons desire to have a relationship with one another is heartbreaking at times.  Moms love their children and want to care for, protect, and nurture them, far after their son has outgrown the need for their mommy.

I think most parents can relate to having a profound realization after their first child was born, something along the lines of, “Oh, this is how much my parents love me!”  Growing up, we take our parents love for granted and don’t realize how these people would literally die for us, that is until we have children of our own.

About halfway through the movie, the disc started skipping (downside of Redbox, I guess?) so Dennis took the disc to clean it.  As I sat waiting, I looked around our living room and my gaze settled on a picture of my mom and brother dancing at his wedding last fall.  I love the picture because it reminds me of the precious moments those two shared during their dance together.  My brother picked an amazing song and my mom looked up at him with pure love and adoration.  My heart was in my throat watching them and thinking, “This is what it’s all about.”

Funny, it wasn’t until after the movie ended, and I was drying my tears, that I realized the thematic link between the film and this picture of my mom and brother.  Mothers and sons.

I feel blessed to have my own little boy to love and nurture.  After this flood of emotion last night, I wanted to have a church date today, just me and Mateo.  He’s so full of energy and spunk these days!  It’s a joy to watch him learn and explore the world.

I sometimes think about what it will feel like to dance with him at his wedding one day.  I’m sure I’ll be flooded with memories of my little ninja jumping, superhero loving little boy, remembering how he’d always reply, “Me too” when I told him “I love you.”  I can’t even imagine all the other memories that will overwhelm me that day, since we haven’t made them yet.  But, I can imagine the feelings and the way I’ll look at him will pure love and adoration.

This is what it’s all about.