Happy Mothers Day....For me, but not for all

My Mother's Day started out in a frantic rush to get everyone ready for church after Daddy (bless his heart) informed me he had not given the boys a bath last night (I was working at the tavern). Well Mommy (bless my heart) had not given the a bath the night before...soo eeeeeeewwww....I figured they needed a good scrub before church. So between baths and ironing everyone's clothes and getting everyone dressed, mommy had about 2.5 minutes to fix her hair and put some make-up on and get out the door. Oh I got dressed too...no naked church lady here...

But all in all it was a great day. We had the family here for lunch, but we ordered a meal instead of cooking, which was nice. And Daddy took me out for a nice supper tonight at a great new restaurant, it was Italian, and I had a nice glass of wine (that might as well been half the bottle....I've never been served wine in a glass that big!) and a stuffed shrimp supper and it was heavenly! Of course we had to go grocery shopping too, not so heavenly, but necessary. And at least I got to grocery shop without the kids! Yay! It was a wonderful evening except for one thing....

While we were pumping gas a car pulled up to a screeching halt in front of the building and I could see a that the driver, a man was extremely agitated and was yelling at his passenger. His arms were flailing and his head was bobbing and it was clear they were having a very heated argument, when suddenly he reached over and PUNCHED her! I was in such shock I couldn't even respond! As soon as he had done it he sped out of the parking lot leaving black marks on the pavement....I caught a glimpse of her face and there was no sobbing, no tears that I could see, just a defeated look. A look that said she was quite used to this. And then it got worse....I saw a child in the backseat. He appeared to be around 7 or so....I wanted to vomit....I was in such shock I did not think to get a license plate # and it bothered me so badly that I thought I was going to have to get out of the car to vomit. Who lives like that? Who treats someone like that? I come from some pretty rough stock, heavy drinkers, adulterers, even deadbeat dads...but I don't know that I can honestly say I have ever witnessed a man raise his hand to a woman....only on TV.

My prayers are with that woman tonight, whoever she is. And I pray for forgiveness for not responding. I wish I could rewind it all and get a license plate #. My husband was irate and we considered calling 911 anyway, but what would we say...a white car, three passengers...that was all the info we had. I didn't even know the make of the car. I am still sick over it. I just can't believe I actually saw it happen. And the look on that woman's face...the lack of emotion...just breaks my heart. You can bet your sweet ass if a man raised his fist to me he'd be bloody as hell and begging for mercy! Maybe that's why there are no wife beaters in my family...all the women are tough as nails with big mouths and enough heft to back it up!

I was also mindful today of my own mother, who is no longer living, and all the other women who are missing their mothers or daughters today. Until I had children, this was one of the gloomiest days of the year for me. Thankfully I have two bright rays of sunshine that have long ago chased those gloomy clouds away. I am blessed. Very Blessed Indeed.