Three-minute speech by Tamara Taylor – January 9, 2020
“What Being A Mother Means to Me”
Motherhood can be one of the most exhausting, stressful, thankless jobs there is. In fact I am fond of saying that Motherhood is not for Wimps.
To be a mother you have to be willing to take everything that comes with that little tornado that is your child – the good, the bad, and the ugly. It means you are willing to take care of them when they’re sick, hold them when they’re hurt, give them tough love when they’re naughty. It means answering their call in the middle of the night. It means you will be there for them when they need it most but deserve it the least – and will still find it in your heart to love them. It means being brave enough to risk your heart by allowing yourself to feel so deeply for another human being that it nearly consumes you. Those children become your world. When they hurt, you hurt. When they are happy, your joy is complete.
I have learned through the deaths of two dear sons, that being a mother also means you are willing to love them despite the possibility of losing them. Despite knowing that one day they may not come home. And still we love. Why? What makes us willing to risk our hearts on such love?
Tamara Taylor and family members at the 2020 Mother of the Year Awards Gala at the Utah State Capitol Rotunda
I was once told, as a young mother, that cleaning toilets can be something holy. Really!? I was in the middle of raising 7 boys and there were very few times that they seemed able to hit what they were aiming for. So cleaning toilets was one of my least favorite things to do. How could that disgusting chore be holy? Well, as it turns out, it is all a matter of perspective. When we clean a toilet we are serving our family and I was taught that service to others is the same thing as service to my God. To see cleaning toilets in that light was one of those Ah-ha moments for me. From that day on I have looked at motherhood – all of it, even the mundane, the repetitive, the down and dirty things we do every day—as a high and holy calling. It’s not glamorous, it’s not elegant, but to me being a mother to eight rowdy, sometimes aggravating, smart aleck, wonderful children is THE most important thing I have ever done. And it is THE most rewarding thing I have ever done.
No award or accolade means more to me than the feeling of pudgy little arms around my neck as sticky lips bestow a wet kiss on my cheek. Nothing else means more to me than the memory of a dear son going off to war as he bends to give me one last hug and tell me he loves me. I do not feel like Mother of the Year material and I have no ambitions to that title. But the fact that my children thought enough of me, knowing all of my flaws and short-comings, to nominate me means the world to me. What a blessing and privilege it has been to have them call me mother.