Walking With My Mom: Learning the Virtues of Random But Deliberate Acts of Patience and Care

‘Now, I understand, life is more than chore(s), I too, will grow old and perhaps ramble and bore.’

Patience is a virtue, we hear growing up but putting it into practice is a true test of our learning and maturity.

Small and large checks of our endurance come our way regularly.

From work situations to the personal front, we learn and experience the multiple merits achieved via deliberate acts of slowing down and displaying patience.

Showing random acts of kindness towards strangers is a hallmark of my mother, that I did not always understand or appreciate fully.

She said, “The multiple impact of small acts of care towards a few, translates into a large one like each one, teach one.”

On this Mother’s Day, I share my poem on learning the virtues of her random but deliberate acts of patience and care while going for walks with my mom.

This poem also has a universal message of the need for emotional care for seniors in our society by not just family and caregivers but by all.

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Going for a walk with my mom was not easy,
frequent stops of hellos would make me dizzy,
I wondered why she would smile at so many,
time is also a precious penny.
Now I understand why she stopped to greet,
For many, her smile and hello were their daily treat.
She understood—old age is lonely and hard,
not many halt to say hello in the yard.
Now, I understand why she was perky and patient,
my perspectives on life were naive and nascent.
Sharing concerns are what make us humane,
though, chides during youth were in vain.
Now, I understand, life is more than chore(s),
I too, will grow old and perhaps ramble and bore,
narrate old tales, health troubles, and older lore,
others too will be interested in other things more.
I too will wish someone would stop and talk,
smile and greet me and ask about my walk.
I too will wish someone would not be in a hurry,
stop, smile, and speak and not want to scurry.

(Original background image by James Wheeler | Pixabay.com)

Shalini Kathuria Narang is a freelance journalist and a software professional. She is also a poet and her poems have been published in several anthologies including “Starry Nights: Poetry of Diaspora in Silicon Valley” and “Pixie Dust and All Things Magical.” She is a monthly contributor to Masticadores USA and has been published by Spillwords Press and San Antonio Press.