Mother’s Day Cards
I went shopping for a ‘Mother’s Day’ card recently. I wanted to get it in the mail a week early so it would arrive in time for May 8th.
My intention was to simply pop into a store, get the card and mail it on my way home. But as I perused the multitude of cards, I began to feel frustrated. The cards seemed to be so limited in what they had to say and so absent of the stories I hear from ‘mothers’ as I listen in spiritual direction week after week!
There was no card that said: “I have seen the exhaustion of sleepless nights when your child does not feel well.” No card said: “I know you spent sleepless nights worried about your teen-aged son and the people he was associating with at school.” No card spoke of the hours you spent driving your daughter to tutoring so she could bring up her grades to passing level. No card honored a mother who endured abuse from her husband back from Afghanistan until finally taking her children away so they would be safe. No card spoke of the stress a mother feels when her adult child asks for money one more time to get out of trouble.
No cards say: “I see you and acknowledge and honor all that you have gone through as a mother”. As one mother said today “I didn’t know what I was getting into when I had this child.” But then she paused and said “I would do it all over again!”
There really is no card that says all that you have witnessed your mother do or endure on your behalf — however imperfectly — over the years. But we need to say it anyway — for ourselves and those who have mothered us. To be seen is one of the greatest gifts we can give another. It is time we see and honor our mothers.
To all mothers I say: Seeing what life entails in being called ‘mother,’ our world is truly more beautiful, more safe, more sacred because of you! Thank you! I am in awe of your life-long commitment!
May this Mother’s Day bring you abundant blessings!
