I went to a movie screening last week called Ending Us and Them — you should see it.
There was a panel discussion at the end of the movie — very informative. Thank you OneSky Community and 100 Homes Penticton. I had not heard of these organizations previous.
Doctor Gabor Mate states in this film 100 per cent of street people have been sexually molested, all abused as children.
I came away from this screening with an overwhelming realization that mothers are the real unsung heroes. Our society pushes mothers into the workplace, instead of their respectful station as guardians of the home.
Our political leaders drive us deeper into debt (listen to the news), causing more families to fall apart because everyone in the home needs to be out working in an attempt to get us out of the debt we are in.
Society is pushing for low cost daycare to allow more mothers to be able to get back to work. Housing costs have skyrocketed, for the most part because of greed, again forcing families to work even harder to keep a roof over their heads.
We have bought into an advertising lie that we need the best of everything. So this evenings events reminded me of my mother, who was a stay at home mom raising seven children on less than a shoestring budget in a 450 square-foot home with no “modern” services. She was always there when we came home from school. She cooked all the meals. She started the fire every morning.
She was the first up in the morning and the last to go to bed at night. She brought tubs of snow in, in the winter, to melt on the wood stove to have water to bathe us in and then wash the laundry afterwards-using a wringer washer and hanging the clothes out on the line. She was also the one who walked us to Sunday school once a week. She helped us with our homework and encouraged us in every way. My wife often felt degraded whenever asked her occupation and she had to say “homemaker.” because many of her friends had “careers.” However, for me, she had the most important career one could possibly have — she was always there for our children.
The films producer, creator, actor, Krista Loughton, hats off to you. I do not know if you have your own children but you became a mother figure, a caregiver, to the four homeless ones in this movie.
You have worked tirelessly, not likely, to reach out and care for ones who are the unfortunate and my prayer is that your work will impact the world. Thank you.
Art Isted
Penticton
