It’s just a chair. It’s made of white plastic, reclines for impromptu naps and folds up for easy storage. To all the world, a very unremarkable item. It was purchased at a discount store with the help of Dad. A humble, folding chair just like thousands of others. But this isn’t just an ordinary chair. This chair was changed. This chair was improved. This chair is completely different than all the other chairs in the world because of the love of a child.
This chair was a gift from my children for Mother’s Day. Why did they give me a chair you ask? Because I’m a horse show mom. I spend my Saturdays and Sundays, week after week, month after month, year after year at horse shows. I am up with the dawn loading saddles, hay, kids, clothes and horses. I spend long hours in the sun waiting, watching, coaching, cheering and commiserating. During a horse show a place to sit is a wonderful thing. My kids thought so much of me that they gave me a chair to take to the shows. My very own, special chair. This chair came with rules too. The rules were hand written on a construction paper card that accompanied “The Mom Chair”.
Rules of “The Mom Chair”-
- No one but Mom can sit in “The Mom Chair”.
- If you are a kid, you can sit in the chair, but only on the lap of Mom.
- If you aren’t Mom and you sit in “The Mom Chair” you will be told to move. Not asked, told.
- Any questions?- See rule #1
Many years have come and gone since I received this incredible chair. Numerous Mother’s Days have passed us by along with hundreds of shows. Long gone is the child who looked to me to pin on numbers, check cinches or asked “Do you have my gloves?” My children have long since hung up their spurs, given the horses’ final pats good-bye and left home. They have been flung to far off places in the world by their jobs. It’s what mothers spend their lives working, hoping and praying for- children safely grown into happy, independent, prosperous adults.
Today is another Mother’s Day. From my children, I received phone calls, gifts, Facebook messages, texts, cards and flowers. But, it’s a bit lonely this Mother’s Day with my children so far from home, so I went to a horse show today. And there, sitting in the horse trailer, waiting like a silent embrace, was my trusty chair. While others may only see an ordinary chair, I see the love of my family.
Special thanks to my kids- A1C Chris Torrez, US Air Force and CS3 Katrina Torrez, US Navy for the inspiration for this message.