Middle Child

There is no better definition of a middle child than my mom. She is the 8th child in the family of 15. Basically that means that there are 7 before her and 7 after her. I don't know much how my mom's childhood was like! I only have snippets of it! I guess it was a rather happy one but I am guessing that there are not so happy ones as well considering having to deal with all these personalities. My siblings and I always tease Mama that she is so "deadma", so NR (no reaction). Actually, I think its just her being level-headed and neutral about it being in the middle! When my siblings and I would have any disagreements, she will not vocally take sides. If there is any side she will take, its the right side. She listens to both sides of the story, or may be at times she tries to be. There are times that her judgment may be clouded by her parental concerns which is understandable but it doesn't take away the fact that she is not one who makes quick conclusions without knowing the facts.

With the turmoil going with her own siblings, I constantly find her in the middle of it all. Some may have attempted to bring her to their side but Mama will never do that. She has not done that before, I don't think she has plans of starting now. She listens to both sides of the story and draws her own conclusion from there. She will share her opinions and views but she is not to impose what needs to be done. She is not only fair but diplomatic as well. That is one trait among others of hers that I truly appreciate and regard highly. She stands in her ground. She will only do what is right and what is fair. People may see it differently but she has not been one to care. In some sense, maybe its her way to keep herself out of a situation that doesn't involve her in the first place. I think it is also a way that she has kept her sanity all these times. As her other siblings worry away about so many things that may or may not even affect them, she only deals with the one that will have a direct impact on her life. She has been taken advantage of a couple of times because of these but she never relented to change who she is in order to get her way. In essence, Mama was never a brat! I don't think she was one when she was a child, not even now with Papa, not even with is when she has all the reasons to be after all the great lengths she has done to make my our lives manageable.

There are so many things commendable and worth mentioning about Mama but as usual, my brain is working on a rapid speed that my hands are lagging behind. I will save some of those for later when my brain and dexterity will be in synch. I will leave one thing though which I think I have told Mama before that I will be happy if I can be half the woman she is!