Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day and I miss my mom. I did a bit of research and discovered that we have Julia Ward Howe and the carnage of the Civil War to thank for the idea of Mother's Day. Julia Ward Howe who is better known as the author of the Battle Hymn of the Republic proposed a day to celebrate Mothers and Peace after she witnessed the thousands dead. And, so today we honor moms. I remember those friends and family who are moms and I thank them for their gifts. There are so many moms whose stories give me courage and hope, who inspire...For Joan, who lost a job and beat cancer and found the courage to start anew....For Maura and Michelle whose fierce determination to give their sons with Down Syndrome a Catholic education that will help them be all that they can be....For Walter whose wife died and had to be both mom and dad for his two young children....for the nameless moms...the mother of Moses who set her son in a basket of rushes and watched from afar as he was raised in a stranger's home....for the Jewish moms of Nazi Germany who sent their children away to save them, knowing that they would likely never see them again....for the mother of Frederick Douglass who walked miles in the night to lie with her son for a few precious hours before she had to walk home to begin her day of labor on the plantation...for the young moms at O'Hara who spend countless hours juggling their role as teacher and mom and do so with grace and enthusiasm...for the countless Catholic sisters who chose not to have children so they could teach and nurse and pray for the children of others...for the young mom in Lees Summit whose baby died in her car while she taught the children of others...for the moms who have lost their child...For Cathy and Eileen and Kim...who somehow found the courage to go on. For all moms, everywhere, for those who live in grinding poverty and who lack the basic necessities of water and food and shelter...for those moms in the nursing home whose daughters come each day to feed them and talk with them, even though they do not understand. . .for those moms who accept grubby, half dead flowers from little hands and know that they've received a precious, invaluable gift. . .Thank you for your sacrifice. Your stories are mine because I too am a mom. It's the best thing I've ever done and ever hope to do and each day brings smiles and tears, hope and fear. Does any mom hear an ambulance go by and not wonder where her children are at that moment. . .We want so much for our kids. Mostly I want them to live lives that are filled with hope and relationships that bring them mostly joy. And, I hope that my kids know that I love being a mom. My mom and I were close but now that she is gone, I find myself wondering and thinking more about her as a woman. What were her fears and hopes and dreams? We talked every day but I feel as though I never really knew her. And, oh, how I wish I had known her better. I knew she didn't really like living in Tuscumbia but she did it anyway. She worked most of her life outside the home. How did she feel about that? She was smart and had gone to secretarial school...did she ever wish she had done more? She had some friends but I don't know who she confided in about us or about her marriage. Mom was a pragmatist and a realist...perhaps she didn't think about these things, but I remember that she would spend 2 or 3 nights a week on the river, fishing...normally by herslef, although sometimes one of the boys or my dad would go with her. I think there she found peace and solitude and had time to reflect. I wish I had sat with her....even in silence I would have learned more about her. I miss you mom. Happy Mother's day.