Mother Thompson a Paragon of Modesty, Humility ... and Strength

On my mother's 80th birthday, which was in 1996, we rented a camcorder and videotaped the family event. When Mom saw by surprise that we were videotaping her in the kitchen, along with her other "Golden Girls" sisters, she asked, "Does that thing record the sound, too?" Upon my affirmation, she exclaimed, "Oh, glory be to God!" She was camera-shy.

As Mother's Day arrives, this is an ideal example of Lillian Thompson's modesty and humility. She would never have described herself as modest and humble. That would have been like bragging. She simply was modest and humble, by nature.

Maybe I didn't inherit well, because I can be such a smart-ass at times. Still, I feel these qualities were instilled within myself and three elder siblings.

For sure, none of us feels superior or better than anyone else, and we don't aspire to be. This has been so fully bequeathed from Mom, that the thought does not even begin to occur. And when seen in others, it's like some sort of foreign currency. What is this person even thinking, trying to act like he is better than somebody else? What is being accomplished? Why?

Yes, my first thoughts about Mom (upon request) are to describe her to a stranger as "modest" and "humble," and these might not seem like the most striking descriptions. But think about it. From my 20th century mother (although she lived all the way into 2004), couldn't our 21st century civilization take some cues. It seems modesty and humility don't get a person very far, these days. Simply click on the cable TV, and flip through the remote. There's a whole lot of self-promotion going on, from the celebrities to the political talking heads.

My mother. I love her so much. To "modest" and "humble" please allow me to add this: "Strong." Especially nowadays, we may not associate modesty and humility with strength. In fact, we may think of a modest and humble person as being somewhat weak. This was not the case with Mom, believe me.

She was soft-spoken, even shy to a degree, but don't let anyone say anything wrong about one of her offspring! Then her strength would show. For example, during my college years, I undertook some volunteer service that sent me into my hometown's community of color. From then on, whenever Mom might hear any sort of racial slur uttered within her company, she would speak up. She was not the type to speak up, but she would speak up. "I want to tell you what my son is doing," she would say to the offending person. True strength. These episodes I learned not from Mom directly herself, but from what her sisters related to me.

My father passed suddenly in 1976, when Mom was only 60. This still seems unfair, to me, that she never had a chance with Dad to experience at least a few years of his retirement time. Did she ever lament this, even once, in self-sorrow? No. Mom lived on, modest and humble and strong. Oh glory be to God, I miss her so much, but also will always feel that she forever is with me.