Mother…

As we celebrate Mother’s Day, we are all taking time to think about our mothers and all of the blessings we have because of them. I think my mother was a saint. Let me correct that. I KNOW she was a saint and IS an angel shining down on me right now. For those who still have your mothers with you, I am so jealous! My whole being is because of my parents. That can be good or that can be bad. Depends on the “me” you see and know I suppose. I can truly say I would not be who I am today, or survived what I have survived, without her or the ‘mini-her’ in my sister! I was/am blessed!

One thing my mother taught me that I hold at the top of the pile of things I learned from her is that “this too shall pass.” I remember the moment when I truly understood that phrase. It was when I was delivering my first child and was doing lamaze breathing. The nurse kept telling me the pains were like a wave, “they are going to come, and they are going to go.” It was a light-bulb moment!! This is going to pass!! Secret to life right there! Everything we have in life is going to come, and it’s going to go. In laymen’s terms, life is a birthing contraction–it will pass! We are going to have relaxation and we are going to have pains — in waves. We are going to have to do breathing exercises to get through some of them. And, we do not get to know the length of time in between, or when they are going to hit…HARD!

As I enter my thirty-fourth Mother’s Day as a mom, eighteenth without my mother, seventh one without one of my children, I have to reflect on the wonderful things that have happened and not on the parts of motherhood that are difficult and change my breathing habits. Another “lamaze” move. If we focused on the labor of bringing a child into the world, every woman who decides to give birth would probably only have ONE child. Well, except for me. According to my husband, I had it easy. I can’t argue that either. Less than three hours of labor with both deliveries and no major side affects to go with it. I told him it was my calling. He told me our phone stopped ringing. I would do it all over again just for the memories and moments that made me who I am today, pain and all!

Life is full of so many wonderful moments. Mother’s Day is one of those moments for me. I know it is a “Hallmark Card Day” but I think as parents, it is deserved for all mothers and so many of my friends who are mothers. It’s one day. A card. Dinner. Flowers (if that is your thing). It is not hyped up like Christmas. Resolutions are not made just to break the next day. It is a moment that we get hand-made drawings from our littles and homemade dinners or meals out from our grown children. In my younger days when my mother was alive, it was a time we would try and do things we knew she wanted done: mend a porch, clean up the yard, get her a box of her favorite chocolate covered cherries, etc. It really is the little things that make life worthwhile. If I could go back in time, I would treat my mother with the same admiration every single day of the year as I did on Mother’s Day! Until I became a mother myself, and experienced all of the “Lamaze moments,” I did not truly understand the role she had. Now I do, in every aspect of the word!

As we celebrate our mothers and/or being mothers, know the title “mother” is the greatest gift! Whatever life throws at us, it can’t take away the love for a mother, or the love of being a mother!! The macaroni pictures and necklaces, along with the homemade cards, to the grandchildren (greatest. invention. ever!), relish in the moment! All too quickly, this moment will pass and we will miss it, even when there is pain!

To all the mothers, grandmothers, future mothers, and mothers of four-pawed kiddos, virtual high-fives for the unconditional love and hugs during those “breathing sessions”. One day a year isn’t close to reasonable, but I could repeat the sentiment 365 days a year and it wouldn’t be enough! I cry because my mother is gone, but I smile because she was mine!!!

#happymothersday #missmymother #onceayearisntenough #thedashinthemiddle