I feel that most of the time when we think about a hero we think about celebrities, athletes, and world leaders but seldom think about our parents enough. I know some of us would say our parents if we were forced to name a hero but even then I'm not sure if we ever have a good reason for it. My mother is a hero because she is a better person than I am and does things that require super human strength and abilities.
My mother has been a dental hygienist for as long as I can remember. She has always been a model employee, and taken a genuine interest in her co-workers and employers. She has also always been the bread winner in our house (doesn't take much when you marry a teacher). Nothing about this sounds super human right? oh but it is...
We moved to Bullhead City Arizona just a few weeks before my 7th birthday from our modest home in Laramie Wyoming. I remember I constantly found myself being in and out of trouble as a child between fighting, threatening teachers, and doing everything bad a child could do...I was out of control. My mother had told me that the move was a chance to start over and that I could change anything I wanted to when I got to Az. I however, didn't take advantage of it and still found myself getting in just as much trouble despite my parents trying everything to help me.
My Mother found work at a Local dental office called Valley Dental under a Dr. White. It was and still is a small office in an okay part of town. She spent her days doing the work there and always said that while her boss was odd he was a good dentist that did top notch work. I got to know her boss a little better when he became my little league coach. Dr. White was an okay coach but made it very apparent that he could care less what his children did. His son Willy seemed to spend the time he could have used playing baseball on our team making fun of me. I remember it finally came to a head and when I confronted him in front of our coach/his father I was told I was in the wrong and Willy wasn't doing anything and when I yelled at Willie His dad pushed me to the ground in front of my mother. I knew then this was a special guy.
It wasn't to long after we moved to Bullhead that my mother was Diagnosed with Lupus. In it's most basic terms it is a autoimmune disease that causes the body to attack itself. Lupus seems to have the most effect on the destroying of connective tissues like ligaments and tendons which don't repair easily even in a healthy body. Needless to say that was the root of her Rheumatoid arthritis which most diagnosed with Lupus do have. I remember how brave she was and how worried I was that it was more serious. As a dental hygienist this was a tuff blow because every night she would come home and you could see the swelling and pain she was having in her knuckles from all the repetitive use of her hands and the breakdown and inflammation of those tissues. She also battled thyroid cancer and had her thyroid gland alone which can cause some pretty adverse effects as well, and all this and still showed up for work nearly every day. How many of us could have done that?
During her time at the office she sat through A LOT of Drama. My mother always seemed to end up playing the Jimmy Cricket roll at her work and had to talk sence into her boss since he lacks every social grace known to man. Finally in the last few years the drama has come to a spearhead when the Dr. got a divorce from his wife. His wife (who is out of his league in the looks dept.) had worked hard to put him through dental school but it apparently wasn't enough when he decided to cheat on her with an assistant (younger than some of his children) and start a new family with her. As you can imagine this didn't stay under wraps that well in small town. When word of the affair with the young gold digger got out business took a huge hit (and all this at the beginning of the recession!!! hooray!!!) Even though all of this happened the new Mrs. White got promoted to Office Manager...(I'll take business ethics for $1000 Alec) I had assumed that after this she would jump ship like the others since her boss had finally proved he was a soulless creep.
I remember being SO pissed at her when she told me she had no intention of leaving the office. (This is where the super human part comes in) She told me that what he had done was very wrong, but everyone makes mistakes and he needed some stability in the office and it should be her. The Guy hadn't even given her a raise in over 20 years. She made the same wage she was making in the 80's, she has to deal with the abomination that is his new marraige on a daily basis, he proved his lack of leadership by doing this and driving their number of patients into the ground !!!!! WHO COULD STAND FOR THIS!!!! IT WOULD HAVE TO TAKE SUPER HUMAN POWERS TO PUT UP WITH THIS BS!!!!
Recently Dr. White after 20 years and after her asking gave my mother a raise. To accompany this raise though he brought in a new hygentist to take over some of my mothers patients cutting her hours in half. She will now loose her benefits because he wants to "change the dynamic of the office." The only women still by his side from over 2 decades ago and this is how he has treats her? She now worries how she will make ends meet since the dental hygiene clinic at the community college opened in Bullhead jobs in the field have been scarce (which yes my mom did work at at the college part time in the program...so she was helping create her own doom). Through all of the Dr.s highs and lows my mother backed her boss even when all he did was bring her down.
My mother worked everyday with severe arthritis, put up with her boss being a retard, made a 1989 wage, put up with me being a rotten turd, and still put a home cooked meal on the table every night and always made it clear how much she loved her family. If that isn't super human I'm not sure what is. My mom will always be a hero to me, and should have never had to deal with some of the thing she has. She should go to the cardiologist to check to see if she has an enlarged heart because she loves to much, even those who don't deserve it. So in summation.... Iron Man can Suck it! Lets see him do half of what Maggie Wilcox can do.
No comments:
Post a Comment