Happy Mother's Day

I must confess, I was kind of dreading Mother’s Day this year. Everything has been so different since the pandemic took over our everyday routines. I’d hoped that life would have returned to some semblance of normalcy by now. Unfortunately, that has not happened yet. It has been a very long two-plus months of social distancing and I miss my family. As the weekend approached, I knew that I wasn’t going be able to see my kids and wasn’t even sure if they would be able to call. My husband and I weren’t going to be able to take our moms out to dinner like we normally would do. Scott has been in a tremendous amount of pain with the pinched nerve he’s been dealing with for several weeks. There just wasn’t a whole lot to look forward to.

The first Mother’s Day after I had my daughter was very special because my mom, who’d been babysitting her while I worked during the week, made sure it would be a special day. Mom cut out a picture of me holding Chloe and created a little frame on a make-shift card using what looks like blue stationary or printer paper folded into a small square card. She had Chloe color on the inside and wrote the words “Happy Mother’s Day” on the front with the translation of Chloe’s scribbles inside. “Love, Chloe XXOO.” It was the only thing I received for Mother’s Day that year, and it’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever received.

Another confession. I am the type of person who likes to receive gifts. Most people won’t admit that, or maybe most people really don’t care about receiving presents and I’m in a minority group. It’s not that I want somebody to go out and spend a large amount of money to get me something. Money has zero to do with it. What matters is that someone takes the time to consider me. When Mother’s Day or my birthday comes around, I’m not going to say, “Don’t forget to buy me a present” Or “Here’s a list of things I want.” But I’m also not a person who says, “Don’t worry about getting me anything.” Yes, I’d like you to think of me, but I’m not going to ask you or beg you to think and plan ahead to get me something. That's not how thinking about someone else works. But isn’t that what most people truly want, just to be thought of?

I still treasure that first Mother’s Day gift, handcrafted by my mom and daughter. When I started writing this blog post I went to my jewelry chest to pull it out and was devastated that the little picture had come unglued. Fortunately, the picture was still underneath the card. (I will be gluing it back together.) Some of my other favorite Mother’s Days were when I was able to do something special with my kids, just to spend time with them. They are all adults now, so finding time to spend together is not always easy. It’s something that requires forethought, effort, and planning. With the pandemic still requiring social distancing, I dreaded what this otherwise very special day would be like.

My kids didn’t let me down. No, I didn’t get to see them in person, but I did get a video call from my daughter with her baby and stepson, and both of my boys called me, as well. I talked to my mom on the phone, and Scott and I were briefly able to talk to Vivian. My husband gave me a card and some dark chocolates this morning, and picked up some take-out from Los Agaves for dinner. This year my Mother’s day gift from my children was the simple fact that they thought of me and took time out of their day to call me. We’ll get together in person when the pandemic settles and life can go back to normal. But today was still a special day because my husband and kids made sure that it was. Thank you!