Today’s newspapers are full of “mothers” wisdom. Reminds one of the “Christmas spirit.” Both last about a day! And, both have been “commercialized” out of recognition. And, if one says anything considered derogatory about either – Wow, duck!
Well, it just so happens that quite a few “mothers” were indeed wise about many things.
Just one of those things was about “smoking.” Quite a few mothers, including their athlete offspring, realized, even fifty, seventy-five years ago, that smoking was bad for your health. I remember, back in high school days, that even the basketball star son of an immigrant mother – and he definitely was not as smart as his mother!
– understood that smoking “cut his breath.” But did that deter him from smoking? or, from playing basketball? (That son died early of the ravages of diabetes.)
This example of “mother’s insight” could be multiplied many times. I certainly would not denigrate mothers in general; I had a “good” one, too. One supposes that some seeds of wisdom doled out in formative years did not always fall on bare ground. No, thank goodness, they took root and grew, later, into staunch supports during the inevitable trials of adult years.
Incidentally, just read an article reviewing the history of “Prohibition” in this country: its rise and fall within a couple of decades in the early 20th Century. Interesting, and, it seems, we should have learned from that history. But, if we did indeed learn anything, why haven't we applied that “wisdom” to the present even more ravaging drug scene? We haven’t so far.
Dallas B. Tuthill, M.D.
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