I have mixed feelings on this day of days. I am reminded that I am a motherless child and that there are so many things I would ask my mom if she were here. I can still hear her voice on the phone, “Hi, Doll.” And I can see the young mother with 2 daughters making grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the tomato soup that came out of the red and white can. I think of the woman who witnessed this daughter’s journey for independence and to find her own way. The woman who didn’t understand the choices her daughter made and had her own struggle to accept them. The woman who loved her granddaughters unconditionally.
I remember my mother in her ICU bed, telling me that I had taught her a lot about being a mother, and thanking me. I remember one of her gifts to me when I didn’t know where to be—at her bedside or at home with my husband and daughters. She said, “I love you. Go home. With my blessing.” I came home on February 15th to my husband playing outside with our daughters. There was a sign on the door. Happy Valentine’s Day. They had moved the day on the calendar so we could celebrate it together.
On this day, as I walked with the dogs, I thought of the sweetnesses that I have experienced in these woods, of #1 daughter being a pony or a unicorn, galloping through the woods, hair flying as her spirit soared. Of #2 daughter stopping at each Jack-in-the-Pulpit to make sure Jack was home. “Hello, Jack,” she said each and every time. Of my mother-in-law, reminding me that I am her other daughter, her love-in-law.
Happy Mothers’ Day to us all. Those of us who are one, who made one, and who have or had one. Take a moment to cherish those you love.
*********
Thanks to these fine women, among many others, who have shared their thoughts on this day:
Post a comment on one of this week’s posts, and I will enter your name into another high tech drawing (where I draw names from a hat). You will have a chance to win a wonderful book that has amazing pictures of the Cuyahoga Valley.
It is spring in my town, the Village of Peninsula, population 601. The beauty of spring is attended by the things that have waited all winter long.
Gardens need preparation and planting; trees that fell victim to winter and early spring’s storms and high winds have to be cleaned up. Lawns need to be mowed. Dandelions and violets dot the yard and field, their bright yellow and purple blossoms bring sunshine on this cloudy morning. The chickens will be happy; dandelions and other weeds from the gardens go into a bucket to be taken to the chicken yard.
The Village is busting with energy. People emerging from the cocoons of their houses, glad to be out. Spring Stroll will be May 23, with activities and exhibits throughout the Village. Many folks are featuring fairy houses this year. I have a collection of materials ready to create these tiny magical environments. Check back for photos.
What’s new in your neck of the woods? Post a comment on one of this week’s posts, and I will enter your name into another high tech drawing (where I draw names from a hat). You will have a chance to win a wonderful book that has amazing pictures of the Cuyahoga Valley.
**As always, My Town Monday is brought to you by the chief cook, bottle washer and fisherman, Travis Erwin. Travis has, literally, gone fishing this week. The talented Erica Orloff is guest blogging atTravis’ place this week. Check out the links. You’ll travel all over this fine blue planet we call home. **
I am sitting in a coffee shop, waiting while Winston (the wonder dog) is at the vet having surgery for a mass on his gum. The vet said that he didn’t feel good about this. If you are so inclined, send good thoughts our way. DOGGIE UPDATE: Winston is fine! He had a cyst or a tumor that the vet think got infected. So it has been removed, his teeth cleaned, and he should have sweet doggie breath.
We went for a walk in the woods last night. It had been raining on and off all day, and the air smelled like spring rain and fertile soil. There was the quiet coolness that follows a rain, with the only sounds the birds and the dogs playing in the woods.
We ran into my father-in-law and his dog. They slowly made their way through the woods, stopping to look at this and that, and to clear sticks from the trails. The May apples were up, groups of them like families at a reunion. Jacks in the pulpit were all along the trails. Fiddleheads emerged from winter’s sleep.
It’s a good thing to take time to look at things; you see things you’ve not seen before, and things you have seen in a different way. Take a deep breath and take a walk. Let your senses explore the explosion of beauty that surrounds you. Let me know what it’s like.
I have mixed feelings on this day of days. I am reminded that I am a motherless child and that there are so many things I would ask my mom if she were here. I can still hear her voice on the phone, “Hi, Doll.” And I can see the young mother with 2 daughters making grilled cheese sandwiches to go with the tomato soup that came out of the red and white can. I think of the woman who witnessed this daughter’s journey for independence and to find her own way. The woman who didn’t understand the choices her daughter made and had her own struggle to accept them. The woman who loved her granddaughters unconditionally.
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It is spring in my town, the Village of Peninsula, population 601. The beauty of spring is attended by the things that have waited all winter long.
We went for a walk in the woods last night. It had been raining on and off all day, and the air smelled like spring rain and fertile soil. There was the quiet coolness that follows a rain, with the only sounds the birds and the dogs playing in the woods.