Luv Yo Mama…
There is something that goes unspoken between mother and child. A quiet understanding, a knowing, that deepens and matures with the passing of years. An understanding of origins, pain, endurance, giving, nurturing, caring … of deep and abiding love that is not easily threatened. A recognition of life and meaning and fruit of the vine and comfort and safety. A bonding…
I say these words as a child … an adult male child. I love my Mother with all that I am, all that I have, and all that I might become. Always have. Always will. She lives 3 hours away in a nursing home now, badly crippled by arthritis, osteoporosis, and the ravages of age. I am never able to visit as often as I wish, but do manage to see her about a half-dozen times per year. For many years of my adult life I lived far away and was able to see her and my Dad only once or twice per year. But regardless of visit frequency, the knowing is always there, providing a backdrop for the scene that plays out, and providing texture to the patterns and colors I paint with my life. The canvas and gesso on which I display my talents and mistakes, my triumphs and failures.
The planning for a visit on Mother’s Day got me thinking and wondering how that particular day came about. Intuition told me it was most likely an invention of the greeting card industry. As it turns out, I was wrong. They just exploited the hell out of it. Wikipedia informs that Mother’s Day was “originally conceived by Julia Ward Howe after the American Civil War as a day honoring (in her opinion) the inherent pacifism of mothers…” Mother’s Day now simply celebrates motherhood, setting aside one day a year to formally recognize and thank Mothers for all they do for us. By the way, the entire Wikipedia article on Mother’s Day is worth a five minute investment of time. There is more to learn and know about this take-it-for-granted day than I ever dreamed.
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Mother worship was celebrated as early as the ancient Greek civilization. Most countries today celebrate some form of Mother’s Day, predominantly in the Spring, though the dates vary widely. Many of them take their form and substance from the British or American celebrations and are highly marketed and commercialized. Greeting cards and gifts are de rigueur. One of the highest volume days of the year for the postal service and the telephone networks is the second Sunday in May, which in the US was declared the official Mother’s Day celebration by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914.
This Mother’s Day take an extra moment to embrace your Mother. Just that couple of seconds longer, squeezing a little harder when you hug her. Tell her you love her, even if that is uncomfortable to you, guys. It is rewarding to see her respond to these little things … just knowing that you love and care for her and appreciate the things she did for you. If you are unable to be with her on Mother’s Day, call and let her know these things. If your Mother has passed on, take a moment in the privacy of your mind to think of her, who she was, and what she meant to you. And if you have a strained or estranged relationship with your Mother, I am sorry. Think of her anyway. After all, she gave birth to you and let you live… Consider reconciliation… one of these days it will be too late for that.
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Lastly, don’t confine all this to one day a year. She is or was your Mother the other 364 days too.
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To all of you you who are Mothers, Happy Day…
8 Comments so far
Winston,
A truly beautiful post. I loved reading about how you feel about your mom…it was touching and warm. Thank you for reminding us all about the unique bond between mother and child and the tribute paid to the one who always gives us unconditional love…. Our Mother. -Joy
if you ask most mothers what they want for mothers day it would be to be treated special like that every day of the year…..yeah,like that would ever happen…
but think that is why i think god is woman…only a mother could produce the world and nuture it along like she has against all the odds…and still not wiped us off the face of the earth…but i think we are pushing it..
happy mothers day to all you moms ..jac
Growing up in England, born 1944, we had Mothering Sunday (which has now become Mother’s Day), celebrated on the mid-sunday of Lent (I think). The tradition was supposed to have started because all the girls who went ‘into service’ - as maids and so on - in big houses, where they lived in, were allowed on that particular Sunday to go and visit their mothers, taking with them a Simnel cake - kind of fruit cake with a marzipan filling.
What a lovely post, Winston, and a tribute to your mother’s fine job in raising her son.
Happy Mother’s Day to her. She did good.
Thank you for the visit and comments. Also thanks for wishing to blog roll my site.
…I’m afraid I cannot read your site, the print is micro-scopic to me. I don’t know if there is a way for the print to be enlarged for me (Screen is already on Max.)
…Have a good weekend
Beautiful post, Winston. As I am a mother I thank you for the good wishes.
Speaking as a mom: you’re right, that love is always there.
You love your mother very much and your post is a great tribute to her.
Also I found the comment by Jai about Mothering Sunday in England very interesting. I remember at about the same time, we in the Midwest had a custom of wearing a carnation to church on Mother’s Day. You wore red if your mother was living and white, if she had passed on. I remember that from my childhood and do not remember when the practice ceased.