Mother’s Day is here and what better way is there to celebrate than with Umbrella Corporation! This Mother’s Day, let’s take some time to remember all the mothers out there and the impact they have on their children and the world around them! Mothers make a huge difference in the world, projecting love, compassion, and strength to everyone and regardless of what’s going on in the world, they make a difference. And to illustrate that point, let’s take a look at Grace.
Grace was a wonderful child, a tech-obsessed teen who loved her mom, Alyssa. While she didn’t have the easiest upbringing, Grace ended up adopted by Alyssa and their life together was loving, caring and sweet, even with all the typical teen angst. Alyssa was an investigative reporter and they travelled all the time. While Grace took her for granted as most teens do, she also loved her deeply and her mom provided the encouragement, support, and nurturing that Grace needed to grow up and become a strong independent woman.
Unfortunately, their time together was cut tragically short. Investigative journalism is a dangerous profession and Grace was left with only memories of her to keep her going. But even those memories created a drive in her to excel and she ended up becoming an FBI agent. Why? Because of her mother’s strength and influence. Even if you only have a short time with your mother it has an impact and Grace was no exception, becoming educated and strong-willed even in the midst of incredibly dangerous situations resulting from both her FBI work and her past which Alyssa had protected her from.
Sure, there were other people in Grace’s life too, but they just didn’t have the same impact her mom did. Leon ended up in her life and while father figures are important too, there’s something different about dads. They are there when you need them but they’re always focused, always distant. Leon was the gruff but supportive dad with the midlife crisis car. He definitely had stuff going on and he was there for Grace anyway, but it wasn’t the same as her mom. Moms are special in a way that it’s hard to even quantify and that’s what Mother’s Day is all about, even if we don’t realize it.
In fact, Grace’s mom had such an impact on her that when it Grace met Emily, there was a subconscious nurturing desire that triggered in her. Would that have been the same for Leon? Probably not as he’s too busy brooding and worrying about the world to think about it. But for Grace, Emily was blind, helpless, abandoned and in need of comfort, just like Emily herself when Alyssa found her. She stepped up and became a mother and an inspiring figure for Emily just because it was the right thing to do. She was a mom, even though Emily wasn’t her child.
Sure, corporations would like us to think we can distill that into a phrase or a line of thinking. Even Oswald Spencer, founder of the Umbrella Corporation was inspired by a mother though. And Mother Miranda inspired him to create the products we see today all over the world thanks to the guiding hand of Umbrella. Corporations make all the money off of moms from products and even logos inspired by them to sales and targeted marketing that almost compels us to buy products for moms, but they’ve lost sight of what Mother’s Day really is. It’s not buying gifts and showing you care with capitalism. It’s not paying lip service to women while hamstringing their rights in a patriarchal society. It’s about all the things mothers do just because they’re mothers. The guidance, the caring, the compassion. The little hugs and small touches that encourage us and make us feel safe. Mothers make us feel loved and that reassurance guides us through and increasingly complex and unforgiving world filled with violence and discontent.
And that’s really what Mother’s Day is all about. You can say it’s just to sell greeting cards or flowers. That restaurants make the most money of any day of the year on Mother’s Day. That it’s just another holiday and if you don’t get it off, you don’t care. But that’s not true. Mother’s Day shows us the impact moms have on not just children but our whole society. They show us how love and respect are generational, regardless of how your family comes together. From Alyssa to Grace and down to Emily, we see the real importance of moms is in the little things that drive us and we don’t even realize it. How we react the way we do because of the lessons and love we get from our moms.
It doesn’t matter who you are. Whether you’re a battle-hardened combat veteran with a slick fashion sense and a tender side or a quiet tech geek that just wants to chill on your computer, your mom has an impact on how you turn out. She means something to you and she makes the world a better place and today is the day we need to appreciate that. So think of Alyssa. Think of Grace. Think of Emily. Not Leon, stop that. That generational love, even between people who would otherwise be strangers is what makes Mother’s Day special. Mothers make the world go around. Mothers are the ones who will save it. If you can go hug your mom, go hug her. She deserves it.
This editorial was sponsored by Capcom, creators of Resident Evil Requiem. Yes, that’s ironic considering the above work, but if you take one thing away from this, it’s that moms matter and as long as we remember that, we’ll all be ok. Also, Resident Evil Requiem is awesome and you should definitely play it, or buy it for your mom if that’s her sort of thing. Resident Evil Requiem was provided to us via Steam for this editorial. It is also available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch 2.
Nate Van Lindt has been a gamer since the days of yore (aka Commodore 64), and has played a bit of virtually everything out there. He's also an avid comic book collector, both vintage and current, and reads a fair amount of sci-fi and fantasy. On top of that, he watches a fair number of movies and TV shows as well. Oh, and he has a family, a full-time job, and lives somewhere in the urban wilds of Southwestern Ontario, Canada, foraging for old video cables and forgotten game soundtracks.