A Mother's Day Story
A story for Delores Ann Dennis on Mother’ Day
1995 from her son, Raymond Dennis.
MOTHER’S DAY
This is a story about four birds, good friends, who lived in the country. They lived in the trees and bushes that surrounded the house where two people lived, a man and a woman. There were many types of trees; towering oaks, maples, flowering dogwoods, and a variety of flowers and bushes. Within sight of the house, there was also a small pond with lily pads and cattails. The red-winged blackbird lived by the pond and spent the day sitting on the cattails, singing. The robin lived close to the house, near the yard and house garden where she could easily find worms to eat. The sparrow also lived close to the house, near the bushes that had seeds she liked. The crow lived at the edge of the cornfield behind the house. The crow spent her time flying above and sitting high in the trees.
One day, the little sparrow excitedly called to her friends. She had overheard a conversation between the two people and wanted to tell her friends about it. This is not unusual for a sparrow, for they like to eavesdrop on conversations. Sparrows are often seen fluttering near people, trying to hear what is being said. After her friends had gathered to listen to her story, she told them that she heard the people talking about something they called Mother’s day. They spoke about gifts they were going to buy for their mothers. The man would buy flowers. The woman wanted to buy candy. Mother's Day was only two days away. Now, sparrows are good at listening in on conversations, but they usually don’t understand all of what is being said. So the sparrow was full of questions. She wanted to know what it meant to give a gift on Mother’s day.
The birds turned to the crow. The crow is known to be the wisest of all birds; crows just know the answers.
The crow explained, “Mother’s day was a day each year the people gave gifts to their mothers to express their love and gratitude.”
The robin and the red-winged blackbird were content with this explanation. But the sparrow continued. “Shouldn’t we get gifts for our mothers, like the people do?”
The robin reminded the sparrow that none of them had seen their mothers in many years. A bird leaves its mother when it is very young. But the sparrow, turning to the crow, insisted that it was important to give a gift to their mother’s on Mother’s Day.
“You’re right,” said the crow as she flew to the top of a dogwood tree. Crows always fly up high when they are about to say something wise. The crow continued, “We should all give our mothers a gift, just like the people do.”
“But how can we do that, if don’t know where our mothers are?” asked the red-winged blackbird. The blackbird knew the crow had the answer, and would soon tell them. But crows like to be asked.
The crow flew higher into an oak tree. The other birds followed her. The crow began, “We can all give our mother’s a gift, one that is better than the flowers and the candy that the people give.”
The robin interrupted, “But I’ve tasted candy, and flowers smell good. What gifts could be better?”
The crow ruffled her feathers. This told the other birds to be quiet and listen. They knew that if they didn’t, she would fly away, across the field and ignore them. After a moment, the crow said, “The best gift you can give your mother is to do the good things that she taught you to do. She will be greatly honored if you follow her example and do good things. And best of all, she does not have to be present to receive this gift.” This did seem especially wise. “You must think about your mother, remember her, and then do what you remember her doing,” said the crow. The other birds grew quiet as they sat on branches, high in the oak tree, thinking.
“I know,” said the robin, “I remember the nest my mother made; it was so warm and safe. I will build a nest just like the one I remember, for my young ones." With that, the robin leaped from the branch, flew down to the lawn, and began to gather twigs and bits of string for her nest.
“What I remember about my mother,” said the red-winged blackbird, “was her song. I never grew tired of it; it made me feel so good." The blackbird glided down from the tree, landed on a cattail at the edge of the pond, and began to sing her beautiful song.
The sparrow looked confused and turned to the crow. “What is it that you do most of the day?” asked the crow, trying to offer a clue.
“Why I look for food,” said the sparrow. After a pause, “Oh yes, I remember. Whenever I was hungry, my mother was always there with food. When I raise my family, I will bring food to my little ones. I will take good care of them.” The sparrow flew down to the bushes and fluttered around, picking the best seeds and berries. The sparrow stopped her work for a moment, “What about you crow. What will you do?”
The crow left the tree, beating her wings to climb high in the sky. “I will circle above and watch. When there is danger, I will call out a warning, Caw, Caw. And when someone has questions, I will come down to them and speak the truth I know”.
The sparrow called out again, “But what about Mother’s Day? Should we do something else on that day - something special”?
The crow swooped down, gliding just over the bush where the sparrow was sitting, “Caw, Caw, for birds every day is Mother’s Day, Caw, Caw, every day.”
PS
In 1995 my mother was ill with a brain tumor that left her blind and with difficulties eating. Mother’s Day was coming up, and I was struggling, trying to decide what kind of present to get for her for Mother’s Day. In the past, I had given her a variety of gifts, a live plant for the yard, cut flowers, or sometimes cashews (one of her favorites). And of course, there was the Hallmark card option. None of these ideas seemed appropriate this time. I just could not come up with a gift idea.
About a week before Mother’s Day, I was traveling to a job site, over red Rock Mountain, on backcountry roads. I was driving on two-lane hardtop road when I came around a corner, and a small flock of sparrows swooped down at my windshield, causing me to flinch and duck and then hit the brakes. It seemed a little strange. A short time later, a few robins did the same thing, flying right at my windshield, swerving away at the last second. A few minutes passed. In the distance, I saw three crows on the road, a normal occurrence. As I approached, I expected them to fly off, but they did not. I had to slow to almost a stop. It seemed as if they were daring me to run over them. I was very close when they finally gave in and flew off. I was driving a little slower now as I went on down the winding road. Rounding a corner, I couldn’t help but notice several red wing black birds resting on cattails in a small pond along the roadside. .
A few days later I woke up during the night with this story in my head. I wrote it down and decided to give it to my Mom for Mother’s Day.
On Mother’s Day I went to the nursing home to visit. I told her about the story and read it out load. After I finished, she thanked me and said “Where is it?”
“What?” I said.
“It’s my present, give it to me.” she said.
I put it in her hands.
I like to read it every mother’s day. I hope you will like it.
