Today is Mother’s Day and I want to wish every mother a very special day. It’s a day that I, and I suspect anyone who has also lost their mother, faces with mixed emotions.
I won’t be buying her flowers today, or taking her to lunch. I won’t hear her soft southern voice. And I won’t be able to give her a hug and tell her how much I love her. Despite these things, today is not a sad day for me. Don’t get me wrong, I miss her terribly and often do allow myself to feel sad that she is no longer with us. But not today. Today is a day to celebrate what a wonderful mother she was to Ryan and me.
The hard days are the ones when I want to pick up the phone to call her and share something special in my life. Or tell her about the book I’m reading that takes place in the hollers of Appalachia where she grew up. Or days when I don’t feel well and instinctively think to call Mom and ask her for advice. Sometimes it’s for the smallest things like wanting to ask her if it was a cup or half cup of flour in the recipe I’m making.
But for every one of those moments, I’ve got a thousand memories that I carry close to my heart for just those occasions. It’s my little way of remembering her and what an extraordinary person she was. My promise to her today and always is to make laughter part of every day, have integrity in all that I do, show kindness to others and always take a few minutes to dance in the kitchen.
Mom and Dad at a cocktail party in Hawaii circa 1969. I’m not sure who took the photo but my brother took a lot of time to restore and colorize this image.