With Mother’s Day coming up in a few weeks, I decided to sit down and take a minute to reflect. I think back to a phase I went through as a teenager; when I believed all holidays were a result of stellar marketing campaigns run by the “Hallmark” company. I refused to make a card, buy a gift or even really wish my mom. My younger siblings diligently gave her their school assigned handicrafts. At 6pm, I was informed by my sister, that my mother wasn’t talking to me. I confronted my mom about this. Without a word, she wept soft, silent tears and looked away. Out of guilt I drew a picture of her, crudely folded the paper into a card and wrote a short note saying I was sorry and wished her a Happy Mother’s Day. She forgave me.
Today, I think back to this incident every May and I’m taken aback at how thoughtless I was as a rebellious teenager. I have three children of my own; and my mother who is now far away because of geography is the person I rely on the most to get me through life’s challenges. I consider myself lucky to have both her and my husband’s mother just a phone call away. We’re living in a strange time in human history. COVID-19 has separated families and already taken several thousand parents away from their children permanently. No matter how old you are, no-one and nothing can replace the presence of a mother. I am an entrepreneur, a part-time chauffeur and now a home-school teacher, but I will never stop being my mother’s child, nor my children’s mother.
Motherhood is the single most challenging adventure I have ever embarked on. It is also the most rewarding, and frustrating. My son is eight, my older daughter is six, and my youngest will turn two in June. I look at them and my heart is complete. To imagine that my mother thought this once, when she looked at my siblings and me. This year I can’t send her anything but my thoughts and words. Which seem like enough; but will never be. For those of you who can, I insist that you begin by simply telling your mother that you love her. Send her something that she will remember and treasure, because even though you are her most precious gift, she can’t keep you with her through time and space. Wish your mother’s in law, because they have given you your partner. And please, don’t forget all the other women who persevere everyday through numerous obstacles to be the best that they can be for the life they have given or chosen to nurture.
Now, I’m going to have my husband read this; as a reminder that he’s in charge of ensuring that my children make me something thoughtful on the 10th of May! For all the forgetful husbands and sons, as well as the faraway daughters, our Mother’s Day Edit is now live!
When I became "Mom"
