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| Mother and Son : Wikimedia Commons |
A young boy, no older than a decade, was raised in the home of one caring mother. She would continuously cook, clean, educate, and pamper her son day in and day out. The boy, selfish in manner never appreciated all the work his mother did for him.
As the boy aged, his mother took on yet more responsibility, working three jobs in order to send her son to college. She got little sleep, worked long hours, and saved every penny she could. The boy, spending his time with his friends rather than at home, still did not see the sacrifice of his mother.
The years continued to unfold and the boy got married, starting a family of his own. Still, the mother did all she could to support her son, as he was without work. She continued to work several jobs, allowed the boy and his wife to stay in her home, and even cooked and cleaned for them. The boy still did not appreciate his mother’s work.
One evening, while cooking, the mother heard her son and his wife talking. “She is so busy working that she didn’t even have time to wash my bedding this week,” said the boy. “Your mother should really be taking better care of us since we are her guests,” asserted the boy’s wife.
The mother couldn’t help but feel as if all her hard work and loving devotion to her son were going completely unnoticed. She thought back to the years of sacrifice and said to her son, “I have done nothing but support you for the entirety of your existence. Your ungrateful outlook on the blessings I have given you is appalling.” The mother excused herself from the room.
The boy looked at his wife, realizing that he had never thanked his mother for all she had done for him in his life.
Author's Note: This story is based on the traditional Aesop fable entitled, "The Plane Tree." The original story follows two travelers who sit under a Plane Tree for rest after their journey. They remark about how pitiful it must be to be a Plane Tree, as it bears no fruit and only loses it's leaves. However, a voice from the tree tells them that that they are ungrateful as they are lying in the cooling shade of the tree, proving the tree's true purpose.
When reading this story, I couldn't help but think of the fact that some people do not see or appreciate their greatest blessings in life. In the case of the story above, the boy does not see all the good his mother does for him and what a blessing she is to him.
Bibliography
Book: The Aesop for Children
Author: Aesop
Year Published: 2006
Web Source: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19994/19994-h/19994-h.htm
The abrupt ending of your story had me yearning for what would come next. Many questions arise: Does he finally realize his mother's sacrifices? Does he take action? Will he get a job and move out so that she can focus on herself, or does he then support and try to pay her back for all of the past years? I agree with your point that many go about their daily lives ungrateful for even the smallest blessing. I do my best to avoid this myself. Your story was short and sweet, but captures the readers attention and keeps the interpreting even after it ends. Good work!
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a wonderful job reshaping the story while still keep the moral and the underlying message intact. Ungratefulness is such an ugly quality and I think people sometimes need to be reminded that it’s important to appreciate those around us and the things they do for us, whether that be a mother who makes sacrifices in her life to better the life of her children or a tree whose branches provide shade to the travelers below.
ReplyDeleteYou really did a good job of making that story something more original and using applying the metaphor to a real-world situation. I cannot help but think that perhaps someone did something to you right before you wrote this, and your own feelings of being under appreciated showed through your version. However, I know that you are awesome in all of your leadership roles, so that could not possibly be the case. Then again I guess it could just be another example of you being too #AGDramatic! (I apologize to anyone if that seems inappropriate, but it is an inside joke)
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