Hello, Everyone!
Today is Mother’s Day! If you’re a mother, I wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day! I have such fond memories of celebrating Mother’s Day with my own mother. With six children, there was always plenty of activity and celebrating. Even when it wasn’t Mother’s Day, there was plenty happening in our house. We were always making silly gifts for Mom. We made cards and ceramic ashtrays, even though she didn’t smoke, popsicle stick cages that I think were supposed to be birdcages, yet no bird ever lived in them. We’d make her breakfast in bed. Thankfully, Dad helped. She would always act surprised even though it had to be obvious we were planning something as we skulked through the house and pretended she couldn’t hear or see us. Even when we were older and left home, we still would make a point of sending her cards and telephoning and because I lived nearby, I’d always take her to brunch or dinner that day. I’m not much of a cook so the restaurant was the next best option. Of course, it was a crazy day to take your mother to a restaurant as they were almost as packed as they are on Valentine’s Day. Even then, Mom would act surprised. Maybe it was because she still wasn’t sure we’d remember and celebrate with her, but we remembered and would take her and Dad out that day. She would’ve been happy cooking dinner for us at home, but that hardly seems right. There should be at least one day when a mother is spoiled.
Mom was very creative. I guess she’d have to be with raising 6 children. I can remember rainy days when we were all crazy because we wanted to be outside and there was no way we could go outside. She’d park the car in the driveway and set up tables in the garage. She’d pull out her art cases and spread sheets of paper on the table with colored pencils and pastels and let us draw. My favorite activity was when she’d melt crayons in empty tin cans. She’s set a skillet of water on the stove and place our broken crayons in the cans and then place the cans in the water and then turn on the stove and heat the crayons until the crayons melted. Then she’d set the cans on the tables and put cardboard stick in each can. She’d cut squares of cardboard and place them on the table then we’d dip the cardboard sticks into the melted crayons and dribble the colors on our cardboard squares. I remember my favorite crayon fete was a little girl lost in a balloon storm. Of course, you couldn’t tell there was a little girl in the midst of all those colorful dots, but I could see her.
Now that Mom is gone, I only have the memories, but they are good memories and I feel blessed to have them. I realize that for some Mother’s Day is not always an easy day. For those of us who no longer have our mothers around, we rely on the memories of Mother’s Days past. And sometimes a child’s relationship with her mother is not always pleasant. If that is the case, then I hope you have someone in your life, a friend, an aunt, a stand-in mother, with whom you have a close relationship. Motherhood is an amazing role. It’s 24/7 and it lasts forever. Even as adults, my mother was very vocal about how we should live our lives. If she didn’t agree with our decisions, she said so. And even if we disagreed with what she believed to be right, well, she was always right. We had fun with that, and would tease her. She took her role as mother very seriously. She was always there and always wanting to help. She wasn’t intrusive, but she did have strong opinions.
I hope this Mother’s Day will be wonderful for you, and that you will celebrate it with someone special even if you can’t be with your mother. And if you’re a mother, I wish you a happy and wonderful day with those you love.
Have a fabulous day, and enjoy your week!
Love,
Laura
