MOM Today I share, with much love and appreciation, my thanks for the wonderful, loving and dedicated work of my first caretaker.

As I continue to say – I do appreciate the opportunity through social media by way of Wheezingaway.com, Facebook’s COPD Travels and with the help of CrossDove Writers, I share some of my travels of life battling COPD and other health issues with the hopes that my sharing will help others learn and understand that they are not alone with their own battles of illnesses such as COPD.

Today has and always will be a very special day in my life as today is or would have been my Mom’s 84th birthday.

My Mom while I was growing up was a blessing to myself, my three siblings, my Dad and all those around her circle of life as she was a most caring, giving, loving and faithful person as one may ever meet.

Later on she became the pinnacle of an image of the kind of grandmother any parent would want for their kids to be blessed with.

But for me, being a Mom was just the title she was given for bringing me into the world – while for my growing years and especially as I look back in review of those years I realize that my Mom was also my first caretaker.

Caretakers are the designation given to those who spend a lot of time, effort and love in caring for those, like myself, who have trouble taking care of themselves due to an illness, physical disease and/or a mental/psychological disorder.

My days on earth were special from day one when I was born without a connecting esophagus, which through surgery was repaired but made me a sickly kid from day one for long while – but my Mom faithfully, lovingly was there every step of the way.

My life travels became interesting roads with many twists and turns, but I always have had ‘asthma’ and/or ‘chronic bronchitis’ as a partner as far back as I can remember – and yes again my Mom faithfully, lovingly was there every step of the way.

Maybe it was because my Mom had some asthma herself as well as her father, my grandfather, who also suffered from lifelong asthma which gave my Mom special insight on the long fight I would have.

Several memories stand out but four in particular rise to the top and they stand out even more as I look back on my life in review when trying to understand how I arrived at my current battle with COPD.

One, my Mom once in a while would refer to me as her family barometer because she could seem to tell the upcoming weather changes by my breathing patterns and sounds.

Two, my Mom courageously allowed our family doctor’s staff to teach her how to give a shot of epinephrine when I would have a major asthma attack – they taught her shooting oranges and when it came to doing me, she cried and made my Dad do it – had to love her for trying.

Three, I remember how I loved having my back rubbed growing up and yet now as I look back I realize many if not the majority of those loving back rubs my Mom would give me were for a reason – that reason was to keep my back and shoulder muscles relaxed when she knew (even when I did not) I was having some tightness in my breathing and also those times when I needed to loosen up the buildup of mucus/phlegm within my lungs.

And four, Mom constantly reminded me over the years of being careful about jobs and places I would go or be, just seeming to know that while those moments may have seemed ok at the time the longer term affects were what she always seemed to have a view of.

When I was diagnosed two years ago as having very late Stage III COPD, one of the first thoughts that ran through my mind were that of my Mom and how her reaction would have been if she were still alive physically to hear the news – she would have been heart-broken but not overly surprised because through all those years she always seemed to know even before I did that my health was always going to be full of health bumps in my path of life.

So today I remember with the utmost respect, appreciation, love and tears my Mom, my first caretaker, on what should have been her 84th birthday.

So today I close my eyes and say thank you for the blessings given me by my Mom and a thank you for the continued blessings I feel from the little glimpses of her loving, comforting spirit as it watches over my each and every daily walk of life.

As always – if you or anyone you know have any symptoms involving lung and breathing functionality, and they linger over and over while disrupting a lifestyle – then please ask questions and get it checked out.

Remember always that without breathing a person is without life itself.

As always I bid to all – smiles, prayers, blessings and steady breathing – Mr. William.

(Copyright@2015, CrossDove Writer)

(Image used from personal files – not to be used without written permission of CrossDove Writer & Wheezingaway.com)