Honoring maternal bonds on Mother’s Day

Bugün's Ahmet Taşgetiren says that on the eve of Mother's Day, he read a newspaper article about a woman who has divorced her husband and is now taking care of her three disabled children all by herself. He states that mothers suffer all sorts of heartaches. There are those who have lost their children or who fear bad news will come at any moment from their sons doing military service, or those whose children have joined terrorist groups. The columnist says that feeling sad at reports such as this should not be enough and that they should urge us to show our appreciation to our mothers.

Milliyet's Can Dündar says he recently heard of this theory: A man marries a woman hoping that she will never change. And a woman marries a man hoping that she will someday change him. The result is disappointment for both as the woman changes quickly, while the man never changes. Also, women try to raise their sons hoping that they will become the man they hoped their husbands would be. It is an interesting theory and deserves much thought, Dündar says, but adds, however, that at the core of the relationship between a mother and son there is another interesting point. Mothers sometimes become so obsessed with giving their sons a good character that a clash occurs and the sons rebel. Most of the time, out of spite, sons end up with a totally different character to the one their mothers tried to give them. Finally, the woman the son marries takes up the mission of trying to change him and this vicious circle goes on and on. Dündar says this is an interesting theory to note on Mother's Day.

Sabah's Hıncal Uluç starts his article by thanking those who invented Mother's Day and tells how his mother died. “It was March 1966, I was about to graduate from officer cadet school in Ankara. The next day a lot was going to be drawn determining where we were going to serve for the next year and a half. I came home from school and saw my mother crying her eyes out. My mother had cancer, and she was afraid I would not be beside her in her last days. I hugged and consoled her. I don't know why I did but I told her that I was definitely going to pick Ankara in the draw. I can't explain even today why I had such great faith. The next day we drew lots and without looking at the piece of paper I said, “It is Ankara, Captain,” and the captain believed me and wrote Ankara next to my name on his list. My mother was so excited to hear the news when I got home. I thought that night my mother would finally sleep well, but in the morning I found that she had died in her sleep. That is how mothers are; even their last moments are full of worries for their children,” he says.