My blog

Tag: Mother’s Day

  • Mother’s Day 2021

    Wishing every mother and/or grandmother who reads this blog post a very Happy Mother’s Day.

    My mother, who turns 92 in June (exactly one week after my birthday), has been slowly deteriorating.

    She has been housebound for several years. With my brother wheelchair bound and me a day’s drive away, we had a caregiver who went to her place twice a day to ensure she ate, got her medication and ensured her physical needs were met. The rest of the time she was all alone. And that bothered me.

    But mentally? She has her good days and her bad days. Some days I’d call, and she didn’t recognize my voice. Other days, she was jovial. And that was cause for celebration.

    But this year has been a particularly tough year for me… and my brother. My mother had to be hospitalized and then taken to long-term care. And while my brother fought this, he realized based on her lack of interest in using her walker and her continued physical frailty, she needed 24/7 care that neither of us could give her.

    The heartbreak of this ordeal has been to clear out decades of stuff from her home. It’s been daunting, and it’s not done yet. While I was going through her garage and donating the vast majority of stuff in there, It struck me that we are born with nothing and we die with nothing. It’s all just “stuff”. Stuff that we don’t need or want.

    I’ve come to terms with my mother’s frailty and the fact that it may not be long before she’s not with us, but rejoice because we still have her… even if it’s just for a little while longer.

    If you still have your mother in pristine health, rejoice and spend time with her. If you don’t, search your memory banks for the sweet times you spent with her and relive them in your heart and mind and know you were blessed to have her.

    So Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. You are loved.

  • Mother’s Day 2020

    Today is Mother’s Day 2020.  It’s a happy, yet sad day.  Many of us cannot give our mothers a hug and a kiss and a pot of flowers or a box of candy because she is in a heavenly place or lives across the country. But those whose mothers live nearby may not have the ability to visit their mother because of COVID-19.  It’s a poignant reminder of what we have lost. While this pandemic has taken its toll on society, we, as a people, can use alternate methods to honor our mothers.

    When I checked Facebook this morning, an array of mother’s photos were posted.  Along with the tribute, the photos tell the stories of each woman. And such lovely women they are!  What an honor to them that their children took the time to scan and post their photos to bless them. I love this aspect of Facebook because we wouldn’t be able to see those lovely photos otherwise, particularly photos of classmates, colleagues’ and other family members mother’s photos. From the 1940s through today, those photos tell the story of each woman’s life.

    My own mother lives ten hours away.  She is housebound now and will be alone all day.  While we will call her and wish her a Happy Mother’s Day, it’s not the same as being in the same room to be able to give her a hug and flowers…in my case, I’d give her a box of candy since she’s not a big fan of fresh flowers because of allergies. This is a photo of her (with the corsage) on the day of her engagement to my father.

    Some years ago, we moved to Germany and missed a U. S. Mother’s Day that year.  But my children planned a surprise 80th birthday for my mother, so I hopped a plane and surprised her for her 80th surprise birthday party.  She thought I was the surprise.  Little did she know that a party had been planned for her with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren along with her sibling.  This is a photo of her upon my arrival and a photo of her at the surprise party. 

    As she ages, she has moments of confusion and forgetfulness and it’s difficult to watch but I’m hoping today will be a good day.

    For all those who are feeling the pain of not being able to hug your mother, I pray for comfort and peace this day.  May your memories of your mother give you a warmth that will keep you for the entire year.

    Those of us fortunate enough to have children and grandchildren. The day is a reminder of the cycle of life and a testimony of the love of family.  My children also live many hours away and this has been the case for many years. I have already heard from one of my children and the smiles and love felt over the phone will never replace the hugs and kisses of being in the same room.  But I know that one day we will be together in heaven and never far away again.

    For all the mothers reading this, I wish you a very blessed Mother’s Day filled with love, happiness, and laughter.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Motherhood.

    One hundred and ten years ago, Anne Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St. Andrew’s Methodist church in Grafton, Virginia. She abhorred the commercialization of the holiday and attempted to have it removed from the calendar in her later years.

    Then in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson, designated the second Sunday in May as a national holiday to honor mothers.
    That proclamation has endured for over a century.

    Today it is celebrated worldwide. Perhaps not on the same day as the United States but celebrated nonetheless. Australia and Canada share the same Mother’s Day as the United State. In the United Kingdom, it’s celebrated three Sundays before Easter.

    It hasn’t just been celebrated in the past hundred years, though. While not a holiday, the ancient Greeks and Romans held festivals in their honor.  These pagan events were the precursor to the early Christian festival known as the “Mothering Sunday”

    Children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren celebrate with their mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers with cards, flowers, chocolates, and gifts. Some give simple handmade cards while others give the more elaborate Hallmark cards. Some give hand-picked bouquets while others give FTD floral arrangements. It doesn’t matter what is given, it’s the idea that mother is remembered and loved.

    Even husbands get into the act by gifting their wives with Mother’s Day cards and flowers for gifting them with beautiful children.
    Each person’s situation is different. You might have lost your mother…whether recently or long ago. Time tempers the loss but the heart still grieves.

    Or you may never have or never will have a close relationship with your mother. It doesn’t matter. There’s a woman in your life who influenced you. Perhaps your grandmother or an aunt. Honor that woman today.

    Mothers, like all humans, are imperfect but they gave us the gift of life. Without them, where would we be? They are a gift from God who can never be replaced regardless of circumstance.

    Honor your mother. Pray for her, near or far. It’s the least…and the most we can do for them. The very best gift of all.

  • Motherhood

    One hundred and ten years ago, Anne Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St. Andrew’s Methodist church in Grafton, Virginia. She abhorred the commercialization of the holiday and attempted to have it removed from the calendar in her later years.

    Then in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson, designated the second Sunday in May as a national holiday to honor mothers.
    That proclamation has endured for over a century.

    Today it is celebrated worldwide. Perhaps not on the same day as the United States but celebrated nonetheless. Australia and Canada share the same Mother’s Day as the United State. In the United Kingdom, it’s celebrated three Sundays before Easter.

    It hasn’t just been celebrated in the past hundred years, though. While not a holiday, the ancient Greeks and Romans held festivals in their honor.  These pagan events were the precursor to the early Christian festival known as the “Mothering Sunday”

    Children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren celebrate with their mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers with cards, flowers, chocolates, and gifts.

    Some give simple handmade cards while others give the more elaborate Hallmark cards. Some give hand-picked bouquets while others give FTD floral arrangements. It doesn’t matter what is given, it’s the idea that mother is remembered and loved.

    Even husbands get into the act by gifting their wives with Mother’s Day cards and flowers for gifting them with beautiful children.
    Each person’s situation is different. You might have lost your mother…whether recently or long ago. Time tempers the loss but the heart still grieves.

    Or you may never have or never will have a close relationship with your mother. It doesn’t matter. There’s a woman in your life who influenced you. Perhaps your grandmother or an aunt. Honor that woman today.

    Mothers, like all humans, are imperfect but they gave us the gift of life. Without them, where would we be? They are a gift from God who can never be replaced regardless of circumstance.

    Honor your mother. Pray for her, near or far. It’s the least…and the most we can do for them. The very best gift of all.