Community Voices for Health

By: Martianne Stanger

Phone numbers.  Directions.  Communications with friends.  Work memos.  Weather reports.  Family photo albums.  Housekeeping notes.  Medical information.  Recipes.  You name it.  I have been without it the past week.

Why?

Not a flood.  Not a fire.  Not any catastrophic cause.  And not anything fun like a family vacation either.  Nope.  What threw me into an information and communication standstill was a maternal breakdown.  Not my own, mind you…

It seems that after but a year-and-a-half’s work at parenting files and functions, my computer’s motherboard could not handle life anymore.  She broke down and, I feared, took my whole computer with her.

Luckily, since the mother’s demise, I have learned that all the little file-children likely survived.  I have been told that they probably are safe and sound – though inaccessible for the moment – waiting to be adopted as soon as I have the time and money to purchase a new computer and to have some techno-whiz locate and transfer them from my old hard drive onto my new one.

Of course, I am open to all tried-and-true tips on which economical but durable new or used computers to buy, where to buy them, who to seek help from, etc.  So, bring them on.

In the meantime, this mother is just glad that she is far more durable than a computer motherboard is.  One-and-a-half years? Pish posh!  My kids can depend on me to for a life time.

From before each of my children was born, a pledge of love began.  At their births, prayers and pledges were shared.  As each grows and changes, a commitment to caring persists.

I am grateful to be hardwired for love and am continually updating systems and strategies in order to share that love through being the best parent I can be.  In fact, over the past week, as my eyes have been on a computer screen less and my children more, I have tested out some tweaks to our daily habits and am happy to report they are proving to be good ones.

So, while I definitely mourn the loss of my motherboard and feel her presence missing multiple times a day, I am also celebrating.  The lull I am in – away from modern day information and communication subject to very short service contracts – has offered me an opportunity to better honor a more timeless bond.

Mother and children.  A bond built to last.