The Unseen Hero- By Caroline Kelley

As the sun rises, so do a mother’s eyes. Like a well-oiled machine, she begins her day mechanically going through the motions, without skipping a beat- making breakfast, packing lunches, cleaning up spills, dressing herself, and her children, school drop-offs, and driving herself to clock in for an 8-hour shift. When she clocks out, she fights through traffic to pick up her children from school, gets home, starts the laundry, begins making dinner, helps with homework, cleans, bathes the children, reads them a story, and puts them to bed. In the quiet hours, while the children sleep, she still works. She finishes laundry, cleans the home, pays the bills, and makes the list for the next day's tasks. For 8 hours per weekday, she works for someone else. For every other waking hour per day, she works tirelessly for her children. One pays a salary and the other pays with love. A mother’s work is never finished, as even in the depths of sleep, her mind worries about all the what-ifs, unfinished tasks, and the well-being of her children. Her work is often overlooked and underappreciated, yet she carries on with a heart full of love.
As her children grow, her worries and fears transform. She no longer fears a skinned knee or whether her children will sleep through the night. She worries about broken hearts and their safety in this dangerous world. Her fear grows alongside her children to be relevant to the stage of childhood they are facing. At this stage, tears can no longer be fixed by a kiss and a scoop of ice cream. The mother maneuvers these new seasons fumbling and bumping around, doing the best of her ability. Shielding herself from the sharp words her teenagers may throw at her. She keeps a smile and a brave face while she sneaks off to the pantry to let her worries come to the surface without being seen. Her children were none the wiser of the anxieties of being a single parent. While her children watch movies and talk to their friends on the phone, the unseen hero makes magic happen to make ends meet, pay the power and water bills, keep their bellies full, and keep their ever-growing bodies clothed. She doesn’t need recognition or a medal for her efforts. Watching her sleeping children’s peaceful faces- dreaming of adventures and mysteries- is the greatest prize.  
In the blink of an eye, the children are grown and off building a life of their own. Does the unseen hero go into retirement? A mother’s work is never done; it just transforms. This new stage brings a whole new feeling. Worry mixed with pride. Are your children ready for the world? Are they ready to be on their own? It is when the mother’s children happily settle into their new life with their own children that a mother can truly breathe and know that it is time to pass the title of “Unseen Hero” to her own children.'