By Lenny Williams
Life is a journey that will sometimes get sluggish
Burdened down with the weight of life's luggage.
Work at work, work at home,
dodge a bully, wait by the phone.
Adulthood and troubled lovers,
Missing sisters, brothers and so many others.
That’s when we turn to the arms of our Mothers.
When you’re grown you’re supposed to do it on your own.
Expected to stand tall and show them all.
There is one person, who on our darkest nights
encourages us to keep up our fight.
Whether they are here or there, or up in the air,
We always find our way back to the arms of our Mothers.
It’s easy to fail, but we told a better tale
We have matched that bet
We went as high as high can get.
And yet,
Even with life in full color
There is no place like the arms of your Mother.
Lenny’s mother, Mildred Williams.
My mother Mildred Williams was a nurse and cosmetologist. She was a very strong woman and overcame great difficulties in her early life. She was strict with me and my siblings, in part because she didn't want her kids to run into the same troubles she had, a common sentiment among loving mothers. She was a spiritual woman, believed in god, and believed in education. She wanted us to speak the King’s English (proper English) so we could prosper in life and surround ourselves with great people and a successful career. My mother was bonded with all her kids, she was very loving, kind, and adventurous. She suffered through me learning to play the trumpet, was den mother for our cub scouts troop, and came to all our baseball games. My mom always had me in activities from a young age, singing poems, being in plays at the church.
I often reminisce to the time when my mother and I sang a duet for our congregation at church. I was only 16 years old, and it is one of my fondest memories with her. She was always so supportive of my passion for music, as she was in many other areas of my life.
Lenny Williams. Legendary R&B artist and former lead singer of Tower of Power.
A life lesson my mother taught me that I still live by to this day is that I am like a cat. There were a few times in my life when I got into some trouble, I would go to my mother to talk about it, trying to get an instant answer, but she would say “I'm just like a cat. A dog gets after a cat, the cat runs up a tree to safety. My tree is prayer.” She taught me about the gift of prayer, and it is still a big part of my life. No matter what the situation, pray about it. Some people aren’t religious, but science has revealed that prayer can be a form of meditation - calming the nerves and anxiety, it is a way to deposit what you are feeling and going through. Leave it there and deal with it in a concrete way. It's kind of like private therapy. Although my mother isn’t here to teach me any more life lessons, I know that the church’s teachings are an extension of how she would want me to live.
What are 5 words that you feel represent your mother?
Strong. Opinionated. Loving. Citizenship. Achiever.
What are 5 words that you feel represent the way your mother views/viewed you?
Adventurous. Troublesome. Gifted. A Blessing. Legacy.
A message from Lenny to Mothers on Mother’s Day:
“I would like to salute all mothers and thank them for their tireless sacrifices and the love that they bestow on their children, their families and the friends of their children. Happy Mother’s Day”
Lenny Williams, gold and platinum recording artist and former lead singer of Tower of Power with an accomplished solo career spanning several decades pens a rare original with a Mother’s Day ode.