Our mothers take care of our every want and need when we are children. A mother’s unconditional love is like a warm, fuzzy blanket that we snuggle up to in the middle of the night when we have a nightmare and it makes everything all right.
Then we grow up and become parents ourselves and hope that we can be the warm, fuzzy blankets that our children can cling to in the middle of the night making everything okay. Because when it comes down to it, isn’t that all any of us can really hope for?
A 104-year-old Florida mother, Rosario Schielzeth, is still that warm, fuzzy blanket that her 87-year-old daughter, Maria Garcia, clings to for security. Maria Garcia, who now suffers from dementia, has almost always lived with her mother; even when she grew up and started a family of her own, she lived right across the street from her mother.
After Maria’s husband ran away with a stewardess and abandoned his family, Rosario stepped in and picked up the slack so that her daughter could still work to support the family. Eventually, the two women ended up under the same roof again.
These days, Rosario, who is 104 and is still very sprightly for an octogenarian, takes care of her 87-year-old daughter, Maria who suffers from dementia. Rosario spends her days reading the paper to her daughter to keep her up on current events, answering the same question over and over when her daughter gets confused without so much as an eye roll, and playing a nightly bingo game or five with Maria.
Rosario says she doesn’t mind and that her daughter, Maria, reciprocates the care in love.
“I talk all the time to her,” Rosario says. “That’s the best thing for people in that situation. Talk all the time.”
Rosario is in great health, only taking medication for slightly elevated blood pressure and needing a walker to get around the house these days. Considering her age, this is impressive and a tribute to a healthy lifestyle.
Most people don’t live to the age of 104 and those who do usually don’t have the strength and mental capacity to take care of someone else, especially someone whose needs are so many, demanding of their time. This is truly a woman who lives to take care of her family and loves doing it.
Carol Festari, the ladies’ live in caretaker, says the first thing Maria says when she wakes up and the last thing she says before she goes to bed is, “Where’s my mother?”
Rosario is always there to ease her daughter’s fears; a friendly face that Maria can recognize when everything else is unrecognizable. Rosario is living proof that a mother’s love is patient and kind and never-ending; even when our children outgrow our laps they never outgrow our hearts.
This story is one that every parent and child should emulate because in the end, our children are our legacy, the living, breathing sum total of what we did with our life. I pray that I can be as kind, loving and patient a mother to my girls as Rosario has been and continues to be to her Maria. Honestly, she inspires me to be a better mother.
When do you think parenting ends?
Photo Source: Dr_Tr
