Happy Mother’s Day

 

It was a perfect day for celebrating mothers. Our day began with the girls presenting me with flowers. Brookie made me a card that she made all by herself. She sounded out all the words herself and even attached a “lucky penny” on the back with tape. Rosie gave me two lovely Hello Kitty colouring pages that she had done especially for me. After church, we had time together as a family which is a wonderful present in itself. I wanted to go to my favourite place for ice cream in the afternoon but it was closed so we went for a “scenic”drive and wound up having popsicles at home instead.

I still can’t actually believe I am a mother. But here I am. And now when Mother’s Day comes around, I tend to think about all the mothers that have shaped me into the mother I am becoming. There is my Grandma who had more strength and energy than I can believe. She worked tirelessly at keeping her home, walked to work every day and still had time to make everything from scratch. She is a mother I admire. My aunt has two children and I grew up watching her create birthdays to rival anything in Martha Stewart. She gave herself over to raising her son and daughter, putting aside many of her own dreams in the process. She is a mother I admire. Of course there is Sean’s mom who spent many long weeks alone with two small boys and later balanced work and family, always stopping to listen to her sons when they wanted to talk. She is a mother I admire. And then there is my mom. She raised two young daughters alone in a house that was barely standing up and managed to fill my growing up time with countless memories of laughter, joy and love. She is a mother I admire. Thank you. On days when things seem difficult or tiresome or frustrating or crazy, thank you that I have such tremendous examples of moms who worked and played and laughed and loved in spite of the difficulties. Happy Mother’s Day.

And even as I write, Rosie snuggled up beside me and whispered, “Love you, Mommy.” She kissed my elbow. Happy Mother’s Day indeed.    ~Mandy