The Fully-Collapsible Mother

I am the collapsible version of a mother.

When unfolded, I am sturdy, bearing the weight of two children, a husband and a home, plus the paraphernalia that entails. I am solid. Strong. Useful. I can support my family, my friends. Elbows lean on me while tea is drunk and conversation sought. I bear advice and kindness, dispensed in large bowls of ice-cream and warm apple pudding. 

I am helpful for craft projects, offering advice and the foundation on which the creations of my children and friends may flourish.

I brace myself against the weight of financial responsibility, I am a buttress for the welfare of the meek. I uphold the atlases and game plans for the wise to solve global disasters. I am important. Needed.

Over the years, hours of use have taken their toll. Bite marks are left as reminders of painful teething experiences. Coffee stains and koki twirls call homework efforts and intense planning sessions to mind. There are brown polka dots all over me, souvenirs of a violent event involving a game of Scrabble and a tin of caramel. 

I have been well used. And yet, there is still use in me. I can bear up, undergird, reinforce countless projects yet. I can be valuable still.

But sometimes, I cave in. Folded up, I am less than half my size. I am crumpled. I take up a lot less space. I serve no purpose in this state, except to lean against the wall, offering an uneven surface for a tossed jacket to be flung upon, or the daily post to be put down upon. Sometimes I fold. I collapse. Unable to bear the weight of my responsibilities, I buckle. Wrinkled and old, I show the stains and scars of my life. Like this I am useless. I am warped and uneven. Pockmarked. Unstable.

Please, fold me out. Lift and secure those battered planks and adorn me with Damascus linen. Hide the creases and unevenness with organza runners that reflect the light of a hundred candles. Set crystal and silver upon me and invite our loved ones nearer. Let me host a meal of nourishing goodness to heal and nurture the ones I hold dear. Give me purpose and direction. Let me shine.