As Mother's Day approaches (May 10), the 83-year-old Valley resident urges people to take a moment to tell their mother how much they are loved.
"I think it's important because you don't get that second chance. If you don't take it, it's gone," said Dyck, who shares she was an illegitimate child who was raised by relatives as opposed to by her birth mother.
"She had no way of bringing me up but my (adoptive) mother was one of the kindest, gentlest people. Yet, even though I was a good child, I always thought, ‘why didn't I do this or that? Why didn't I ask more questions?'"
Dyck went on to have nine of her own children and was widowed because of an accident when her youngest child was eight and her oldest was 18.
"The most difficult was making decisions alone and the easiest was that I had good kids and my faith in God helped."
Throughout the years, Dyck has also written many books and poetry. One poem that she wrote in 2005, called Mother, has been on her mind a lot lately, especially as Mother's Day approaches.
"It is so relevant in our lives ... you have to value your mother while she's alive and tell her that you love her and value the work she put in," said Dyck about not only the reflection of her poem but what she hopes young and old will do this Mother's Day and on an ongoing basis.
"For Mother's Day we should communicate to the world the value of good parents. We need to appreciate it and not take it for granted. Society doesn't value mothers and that's always bothered me," she said.
"The value of a good mother ... is immeasurable ... and it's hard for a child to succeed if they don't have help from home. It's not an easy job (and) society has never given mothers the credit they deserve. It is the toughest job most of us have in our lifetime."
Dyck said acknowledging and respecting parents is a way of life that should be constant for the rest of time.
"Children learn by what you do and mothers are shaping the next generation; they instill values that money can't buy," she said. "Society needs good parenting otherwise what's going to happen to the future generation?"
Twitter: tdnMonique
POEM:
MOTHER:
You have only her lifetime to love her.
When she's gone there is no second chance.
For sure you will wish, you could be with her still
with more time to appreciate her skills.
Time - to heed the lessons she taught you so kindly.
Why with some there was no compromise.
'Cause you know that she wanted only the best
For the child that she raised by her side.
In our lives we lose precious moments,
time and place we can never regain.
When she's no longer here, we remember those days and the memories flood through our brain.
Make the most of the time when she's living.
Tell her often that you really care.
That you love her and want her to know that you do, that you cherish the times you both share.
Let her know that the values she taught you
will live on through you, and you'll pass
them on to your children, and spread them around.
Let them fall on a child's fertile ground.
Let her know that her work through her lifetime,
allowed you to grow and succeed.
Then when God calls her home, she can rest by His throne.
With a peace she worked hard to achieve.
By Hattie Dyck
