Super Mum

My mum has been married to my dad for about 30 years now and she has always relied on him when it came to many of the household responsibilities. She's an independent woman who's very active but after 30 years you tend to divide up the tasks between you and your spouse, so you depend on each other to do certain things. When we moved to Canada in 2002 my dad had to make a difficult decision which was to leave us and go work in Saudi Arabia. That decision had a huge impact on the way my family functions, and still does. The biggest impact of all was on my mother...all of a sudden she was left being responsible for all of the household duties, plus us, her 3 children. I will never forget how my mum was in Canada in those first few months after my dad left. Going from being stressed to being depressed till she finally made the decision to move back to Egypt. Once that decision was made, the stress levels doubled. She had to sell the house, all the new furniture we bought, the car, close our accounts, pack up our lives again, and finally taking care of the travelling expenses. I still cannot believe we survived that stage in our lives. I remember having people coming to the house, showing them around, helping them carry our brand new furniture out the front door. I still remember how I felt packing up my things, yet again, and seeing my blue-walled room all bare. My mum stayed strong, not happy but firm and strong through it all. She handled all that load and since we came back has been handling everything here too! She wakes up to find herself home alone since I have work and my brothers have school, and begins her hectic day of running errands, fixing things, cooking, etc. She hardly has time for herself, and when she does she doesnt have the energy to go out! My mum is a very strong woman who I appreciate alot and love with all my heart, but I also worry about because no matter what help I can offer she still has to face life, responsibilities and all, without my father. She misses the company, the sharing of thoughts, the sharing of responsibilties, etc. I just hope she can stay strong and keep seeing the lighter side of things coz that's the only thing that can keep anyone going...see the good and do your best to ignore the bad.