Things My Mother Taught Me
By Brian Reynolds Hayes
Last night, I opted to forgo my reading in order to help my mother make and drop off homemade face masks for doctors at a local hospital. We finished at around 1:30 AM which is why I am writing my journal now instead of having been able to write it last night. This journal is entirely different from the other journals I have written. As I prepared to write this journal by reading my past two journals, I noticed that my previous two journals were a lot more negative than I had remembered. This realization has prompted me to attempt to write a journal in a more hopeful light, because after last night that is how I feel.
Working on the face masks with my mother last night evoked emotions of happiness, love, and hope. My mom had come to me around eight PM to ask for help with the masks because she was worried she was not going to be able to finish them and be able to deliver them to the local church for the doctor to pick up by six AM. I wanted to say no because I knew I had homework to do and wanted to just relax and watch TV with my sister. However, as I started to open my mouth I saw a look of worry in her eyes that filled me with a sense of love. My mom is very religious and constantly is going to community service events or finding ways to give money and help to people who are less fortunate. In here look of worry, I was able to see how much this meant to her and knew that I had to help her. So, I finished my dinner and then got up to get to work and help her with the masks. As we worked on the masks, I was overflowing with a sense of happiness. I was finally doing something to help out in this time of chaos where I have constantly felt helpless. Additionally, being able to sit with my mom and talk as we worked on these masks made me feel a sense of pride and joy that can only come when you are surrounded by family or close friends.
Finally, as my mom and I began to finish up with the masks I was taken over by a sense of hope, which I have not been feeling a lot in this time of quarantine. I was able to push all the negative articles I have read and was able to see think positively. Even with everything going on there are so many heroes in our world that truly do remarkable things. We have doctors and nurses that are putting their lives on the line every day and without them we truly would be lost. We have scientists that are using years of practice to attempt to find a vaccine for this virus. Then there are people who do not necessarily have the educational training to find a cure or help in the hospital that are at home making these masks in order to help. It is not the biggest help in the world and it by no means is going to stop the cure in and of itself, but it is something and just that little bit means the world to me. Just being able to see people, like my mom, who continuously are trying to give anything they can to help makes me feel hopeful that out of all this darkness something good will emerge.