Bonnie Smith-Yackel's My Mother Never Worked: Role of a Mother and Social Security

My Mother Never Worked

In the essay "My Mother Never Worked," Bonnie Smith-Yackel recalls the time when she called Social Security to claim her mother's death benefits. Social Security put’s Smith-Yackel on hold so they can check their records on her mother. While waiting, she remembers a lot of things her mother did, and the compassion her mother felt towards her husband and children. When Social Security returns to the phone, they tell Smith-Yackel that she could not receive her mother's death benefits because her mother never had a wage earning job.

Being a mom is one of the hardest jobs in the world, this paper helped my belief of this fact. The job of a mother is so difficult because it is a job that is taken for granted. While reading through this essay, I was struck with the same feelings as the author felt. The surprise, the shock, the dismay that the United States government refused to help this woman simply because she had never "worked". As I read this paper I realized how much my mother does for me on a daily basis. The things that I take for granted: cooking, cleaning, driving me around, doing laundry, supporting me, loving me, helping me, and just being my mom. As I read through this paper I highlighted every time Bonnie Smith’s mother worked. The amount of physical labor this woman went through was great. While reading this I think that this was the first time Bonnie realized how much her mother had worked throughout her life. I made a connection to my own personal life, like Bonnie I have usually taken what my mother does for granted, but this story has made me rethink this action. It’s about time that mothers get the recognition they deserve.
If I had the chance to interview this author my main question would be, did you think you had taken for granted all the work your mother had done until that moment? I also would want to know how she restrained herself from marching down to the Social Security office and