THE MORAL OF THE STORY:

I recently played in the sand at the park with our granddaughters when 3-year-old Mary said, “Cici, you’re a hero.” I smiled and replied, “Thank you, Mary, that’s a nice thing to say. What do you mean by the word ‘hero?’ ”

Mary kept filling her red bucket with sand and simply said, “I mean that you’re a hero.”

I wondered what she meant, so I tried again, “Have your parents been reading to you about heroes?”

Mary kept digging, so I tried again, “Do you know what the word hero means?”

Mary poured sand on her toes and answered, “Yes.”

“What does the word hero mean to you?” I asked.

Mary looked at me with her big brown eyes and said, “I don’t know, Cici.”

I realized I was only confusing things and said, “I’m sorry Mary, I said too much. Heroes help people and heroes are brave. Thank you for calling me a hero. I think you’re a hero, too.”

Mary stood up, looked toward the swings and asked me to help her up.

While pushing Mary on the swing, I told her that she was a hero because of the way she helps her little sister and her parents, and I’ve seen her be brave, especially in the pool.

Last summer, Mary showed me what she learned in her swim lessons, and one thing was crab walking, or scooting herself along the side of the pool. Once I watched her do that, and she was obviously trying to talk herself into feeling confident because as she worked her way along the pool, she repeatedly said, “I’m so brave, I’m so brave.”

I think Mary knows now that heroes help and that heroes are brave.

I realized that I needed to add another phrase that describes many mothers. Mothers are indeed brave heroes who help and partner with God in the exhilarating adventure of motherhood.

Happy Mother’s Day!

And you can quote me on that.