It is our second Mother’s Day without my beautiful Mom, who I believe this day was made especially for.  The six of us needed one more day to let our Mom know how deeply we loved and admired her, how special she was, and how her life was a lesson in perfection against all odds.

Three weeks post surgery, my daughter is still up throughout the night in screaming pain, and her spirit and lightness has been hidden under a cloud of fear and anger and pain for far too long now.  I miss her, and my patience and strength seem to be waning.
I have looked to my Mom, and talked to her in the dead of night, asking her to send me some of her strength and calm from heaven, because my own supply was on empty.  Especially today it seems.


So on this Mother’s Day as I sit at my daughter’s bedside, trying to ease her fears and her aches, I have been thinking a lot about my Mom and what I learned from her.  I learned things about being a mother, of course, but I never saw it back then.  It was all about how much she loved me, and how special I was in her eyes.  I learned more about being a whole person, and an individual with my own passions and outlook on life from my Mom.  I learned strength and resiliency, and what is really important in life, and how to laugh and love with total abandon.


But my lessons in parenting, the day to day lessons on how to do this thing, I think have come from my three sisters in so many different ways recently.  My sisters, Nancy, Peggy and Suzie, are all 8-12 years older than me, and have done all the hard stuff already while I silently watched.  They started businesses, raised children, managed homes, fostered relationships, and followed passions of their very own.  They are all such strong individuals, and have their own amazingly interesting lives.  They give to others, they empower people without a voice, they travel, they learn constantly, and they always move forward.  There is no sitting on the sidelines, and no looking back with regret.  There is always something new on every horizon, something to get excited about and share.  It is intoxicating and invigorating to be with each of them.


And then there are their children.  I wish I could bottle every lesson they have taught or hard won battle they have been through, because they have admirable children.  My nieces and nephews are all, literally each and every one if them, the most special people I have ever had the pleasure to love.  They are exactly like their Moms;  giving, interesting, passionate, funny, brilliant,  compassionate, strong, forward moving and forward thinking, and warm and special.  They love and respect their families, and their parents.  They have great jobs, interesting hobbies, graduate opportunities I am envious of, and they constantly reach back and bring up the littler cousins.  Showing them the way, and being excited about their lives.  I have never met any other young people like them.



My sisters have showed me what it is to be a strong and individual woman, and I am learning from them how to raise amazing children.  The lessons are invaluable, and they do not even know they are bestowing them on me most of the time.  But I am keeping all the lessons in the vault for my years ahead of child raising.  I will draw from them like I now do from my Mom. I guess exceptional Mom’s come from somewhere, and I know my Mom is smiling down at all of us with tears of pride in her eyes.  Peaceful, I hope, in the fact that she left us with a great foundation, and with each other.


Happy Mother’s Day !