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A UMNS Commentary
By Bilha R. Alegría*

3:00 P.M. EST May 6, 2011 |

Writer Bilha Alegría (back row, far left) stands with her siblings and her mother, Esperanza Ramírez, (front center) for a family photo taken in Edinburg, Texas.
UMNS photos courtesy of Bilha Alegría. View in Photo Gallery

My mother, Esperanza, is my best friend, my counselor, my teacher, my medicine, my inspiration and my everything.

My mother has always been kind, loving, a great cook, a great home engineer and a Christian woman. I thank her for everything she has taught me up to now. I will never compare myself to her, but she has molded me to be the woman that I am and her teachings will remain with me for the rest of my life.

There have never been any secrets between us. I share everything with her. Whenever I have a problem, she counsels me and I always listen to what she has to say because she is a very wise woman. Even though she had very little formal education, the Bible has been her best teacher. She has learned a great deal from being a faithful minister’s wife.

My mother tells me that we were very poor when we lived in México. I was too young to remember. She tells me that we used to live in the church, and we slept on the church’s pews. Her kitchen was outside and she would cook over some bricks. She says that even though we were poor, we never lacked anything. I imagine that my mother made sacrifices and even went without food in order that we could eat.

In this baby photo, Bilha Alegría wears a dress that her mother sewed using cotton flour sacks. View in Photo Gallery

She tells me that she did not have money to buy us clothes and she would make us our dresses out of flour sacks. She would have to buy several sacks in order to have enough material to make a dress. I remember it was very rare that she would buy us clothes. My sisters and I would wear second-hand clothes and she would choose these clothes according to our size. She later got herself a sewing machine and she would sew our clothes.

Now I appreciate what I have and I appreciate with all my heart the sacrifice that my mother made for me and I love to share with the people who have less than I have.

My mother is very active with the United Methodist Women and with her Sunday school class at El Buen Pastor United Methodist Church in Edinburg, Texas. She is a woman who is always working in her church, doing crafts and cooking for events. Even though my mother never learned how to drive, my sisters or my brother always make transportation arrangements so she won’t miss any of the events in her church.

Since I live far away from my mother, I rarely am able to be with her on Mother’s Day, but I always tell her that I’m with her in spirit. I call her every evening. We greet each other at the beginning and then we begin to talk about my sisters and my brother, about the church and about her health. We even talk about the soap operas we watch in Spanish.

I admire my mother, I respect her and I love her very much and with all my love I always tell her: “Mother, I love you and I am grateful to God because you are my mother. You have a special place in my heart. You have been a very special person in the lives of my daughters Cynthia and Monica, and in the life of my grandson, Geoffrey. You have been a great teacher and your teachings will remain with me for the rest of my life. May God bless you today and always.”

Because it is Mother’s Day, I bring homage to my mother, Esperanza, and to all the mothers on this special day.

*Alegría is a Spanish resources associate at United Methodist Communications.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.