I HAD THREE MOTHERS

Proverbs 22:6

Start children off on the way they should go,

   and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

My mother had a rough childhood.  My grandmother put my mother to work at a young age.  By the time when she was ten my mother had to take care of her younger brothers --- cooking and cleaning after them.  My grandmother never showed my mother any love.  I’m sure my grandmother loved my mother but didn’t know how to show it.  My mother grew up feeling hatred towards my grandmother.  When my mother married and started her own family (Nancy the oldest, Rose the second oldest, Jr. the third oldest, and me, Denise, the youngest) she started to treat just as her mother had.

Growing up in this family wasn’t easy, especially for us girls, since my mother didn’t have a mother that was loving, compassionate; one that held her when things were not going well.  She did not know how to show her love for us.  When I was growing up there was a time when I too felt hatred towards my mother because I would see my friend’s mothers and they were not like my mother.  My friend’s mothers were understanding, loving and their best friends as well.  At this point I still did not know what my mother had gone through in her childhood. When I began to mature and go through changes, my mother didn’t talk to me about anything. However, my sisters were there for me.  My sister Rose knew everything about health.  Today she is one of the top nurses in her job.  My sister Nancy was the one I would go to when I had questions about other things or when I just needed to talk to someone about what was going on in my life.  Words cannot explain how grateful I am for both of them.  I thank God everyday for my sisters.

You might ask: “what about your mother?  To me it seems that you only had ‘two mothers’”.  God showed me one day the suffering and loneliness my mother endured growing up.  My mother is also the reason that I am alive today.  When I was sick she was always there.  She was the one that took me to church and fought for God to cure me.  

She is also the one that showed me God’s path.  In my opinion, that is the most important thing a mother can teach her children.

Denise Davila

1235 Pacific Avenue  Long Beach, Ca 90813