Mother's Prayers

Quite some time after her death,

in a collage I put together, I asked

of my mother, rhetorically and

hypothetically of course, What in

Life would You have Done Differ-

ently? She had already lived through

The Dust Bowl and Great Depression,

had witnessed the destruction and loss

of World War II. They had become an

indelible part of her psyche and would

remain with her until her dying days.

She understood for whatever reasons,

God has His Ways. She prayed a lot

to the Blessed Mother asking her to

please intercede with The Father, The

Son and The Holy Spirit. She never

managed to mold my dad into the

savior of her life she had originally

hoped he would be. She may have

prayed for her lifelong, persistent

depression to be lifted, but back then

not even God or Mary had a handle

on what to do about that. Freud was

dead, and he hadn’t figured out a cure

for that one either. Bearing your own

cross was still the Catholic mantra for

the ages, that and praying for the con-

version of Russia. Today, all those

years later, there is medication to help

out with many ailments. However,

Russia continues to be a problem

left unresolved. My dad’s answer

for the times was, vodka helps some,

but only for a while.

Chris Hanch 3-22-19